As you read this, you might be eyeing the new RAI manual that takes effect today, and are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the sheer number of new pages. So it’s with great regret that I have to add...
Will there be a ‘real’ CMS administrator soon? It’s looking so
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 03, 2013
If you’re a gambling person, it looks like the odds just got a whole lot better for Marilyn Tavenner becoming the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s...
Peace is hell
By
John O'Connor
Feb 03, 2012
On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered some tough-love testimony about rising healthcare costs and our shrinking Treasury. This would be very sobering news indeed — if an easy answer...
It’s time to take sides about Obamacare’s future
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 08, 2017
Tuesday’s statement from the American Health Care Association on Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace Obamacare was striking. There was no walking a tightrope or mealy-mouthed ambiguity...
Change is coming: what to expect from Verma’s CMS
By
Feb 14, 2017
With former Georgia Congressman Tom Price confirmed as the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services, it’s time to turn the focus on the person picked by President Donald Trump to helm...
How to quickly size up the health of any facility
By
John O'Connor
Oct 24, 2016
When it comes to measuring how well a long-term care facility is doing, we all know the usual benchmarks: revenues, profits and census levels.
Catching payroll bandits
By
Elizabeth Newman
Jun 01, 2015
The big news last week wasn’t that two women were charged with stealing $144,000 from a nursing home in Pennsylvania. It was that their alleged scam lasted for three years.
When we talk about providing good care, what do we really mean?
By
John O'Connor
Dec 20, 2013
In case you haven’t noticed, “quality” is quite the buzzword in long-term care these days.
Small staff, big hearts — simple needs
By
Aug 25, 2015
Mary Tellis-Nayak often makes it a point to visit nursing homes in other countries when she and her husband, Vivian, travel. A 2012 trip to his hometown of Mangalore, India, was no different.
Now here’s how you celebrate ‘The Voice’ (the original one)
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 10, 2015
There’s a reason you go back to your favorite restaurant, television show or shoe store. They’re good, and you can count on them being good. That’s how I feel about the public relations...