Structured home care program reduced SNF stays 27%, hospital finds
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 06, 2014
A hospital substantially reduced Medicare costs and skilled nursing facility stays by providing more primary care in frail elders’ homes, according to study findings published in the Journal of the...
Profile: Respecting his elders
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 01, 2014
Michael D. Gore made great strides professionally this spring, but it also was a season of sadness for the rising long-term care leader. His grandmother died at the age of 87 after spending her last weeks...
Advancing Excellence now embraces nurses in policy
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 01, 2014
Nurses’ efforts to be leaders in a national effort to improve long-term care showed how they can attain greater influence over healthcare policy, according to an article recently published in Geriatric...
Better anti-fraud efforts are not appeasing lawmakers
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 01, 2014
Long-term care facilities and other Medicare providers increasingly have seen reimbursements influenced by the government’s Fraud Prevention System, an official recently told a Congressional panel.
Congress grills top judge on appeals jam backlog
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 01, 2014
There is no easy fix to the staggering backlog of Medicare appeals, a government official said during a July 10 Congressional hearing.
Why jurors might overlook gruesome testimony against nursing homes
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 05, 2014
In reporting on lawsuits against long-term care providers, I’ve spoken to plaintiffs’ lawyers who rival Stephen King in their descriptions of misery and gore. So I understand why nursing home...
Residents have refused meds, tried to flee secure unit since talking to surveyor, nursing home charges
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 05, 2014
An Ohio nursing home has been trying to care for residents who became defiant after speaking with a state inspector, according to legal charges reported Monday by Courthouse News Service.
Broker admits using nursing home residents as pawns in annuities scheme, agrees to $850,000 settlement
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 04, 2014
The mastermind of a financial fraud that victimized nursing home residents has admitted wrongdoing and will pay $850,000 in a settlement, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday.
Long-term care advocacy group cheers executive order barring arbitration agreements, urges further action
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 04, 2014
A prominent long-term care consumer advocacy group hailed a recent executive order banning certain government contractors from using arbitration agreements, saying this is a step toward eliminating these...
Medicare rates could be adjusted for start and end of hospice care episodes, CMS report suggests
By
Tim Mullaney
Jul 31, 2014
Medicare payments could be adjusted to reflect how hospice services tend to be more intensive at the beginning and end, according to findings recently published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...