Well, another week is gone by with another round of Zoom meetings. And I’ll be honest: I’m as confused as a chameleon in a bag of Skittles.
AMDA advocates for clinically appropriate and safe staffing levels
By
Michael Wasserman
Victoria Walker, MD, CMD
Jan 02, 2024
Skilled nursing facilities are no longer settings just for aging older adults. Residents are both younger and/or with far more medically and socially complex needs. Experiences during the pandemic...
Administration and CMS’s big fix
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Mar 15, 2022
I think a lot of us were a little ticked off with the State of the Union address and the administration’s focus on improving the quality of care provided in America’s nursing homes. We all know we...
The irony of long-term care advocacy
By
Stephen A. Moses
Dec 17, 2021
Long-term care faces a world of hurt. The COVID pandemic worsened the profession’s chronic long-term problems including revenue shortfalls, caregiver shortages and wage pressures. Researchers, operators...
When less is more: The role of deprescribing and art of medication management
By
Kurt Merkelz, M.D.
Jul 28, 2021
More prescriptions do not necessarily mean better health outcomes. Deprescribing, which is the planned and supervised process of intentionally stopping a medication or reducing its dose, is a critically...
Vaccine mandates are legal, but not without their own risks
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Apr 19, 2021
With the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program now complete, responsibility for COVID-19 vaccinations of new residents and staff has shifted to the long-term care facilities themselves. ...
Healthcare changes that burn me out — and burn me up
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 04, 2018
The aspect of a changing healthcare landscape that most increases my likelihood of burnout is the prioritization of short-term profits over the care needs of residents and the preservation of a tolerable...
Amid dire economic reports, wasteful Medicare spending must stop
By
Kristin Walter
Jun 25, 2018
Given the significant financial pressures facing our federal government and with the health and economic security of nearly 48 million American seniors on the line, Congress must act now to authorize CMS...
Duct tape solves long-term care crisis
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 23, 2017
“Astonished” doesn’t even begin to cover the feeling. “Disappointed” is also woefully inadequate. To describe a recent, very public, wardrobe humiliation that occurred in...
The White House Conference on Aging: Why it should matter to you
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Oct 30, 2014
If you, like me, completely missed the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (or if you weren’t in the field at the time), it’s fair to ask just what the heck it and does. And what it means...