Long-term care is in a pivotal moment. With the senior population growing exponentially as baby boomers require more intensive care, skilled and long-term facilities will require an influx of nurses and...
An insider’s guide to managed care contract exclusions
By
Susie Mix
Dec 18, 2023
There’s a key question more providers need to know the answer to: What is a contract exclusion? A contract exclusion details the medications and treatments that are not included in the levels of a managed...
The hypocrisy of staffing mandates
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 19, 2023
Absorbed as you probably are in fighting through the long-term care staffing crisis while parrying a CMS mandate, I wouldn’t blame you for not noticing. But at airports across America, big planes are...
Guess what’s coming to nursing homes next
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 03, 2024
I remember when the Patient Driven Payment Model rule was just a proposal inching its way toward finalization, its concept of assigning points for specific non-therapy ancillary costs a pretty exciting...
Scrooged again: MA plans can’t escape criticism of clandestine coverage rules
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 02, 2024
If you were looking for someone deserving to be cast as Ebeneezer Scrooge this holiday season, Medicare Advantage insurers may have just locked up the audition (for this year and maybe future years too).
Want to build a strong IPC program? You need to get creative.
By
Buffy Lloyd-Krejci, DrPH, CIC
Apr 10, 2024
It’s truly remarkable to reflect on the four years that have passed since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. Throughout this time, profound lessons have been learned about infection prevention and...
A hidden crisis: Tackling the growing problem of malnutrition in SNFs
By
Emily Fear
Sep 06, 2023
Malnutrition in the elderly is an underrecognized condition that is increasing in prevalence. If left untreated, malnutrition leads to a progressive decline in overall health and reduced physical and cognitive...
Making sense of two approaches to the skilled nursing quality assurance privilege
By
Mario C. Giannettino
Sep 01, 2023
Skilled nursing facilities are required by law to have quality assessment and assurance committees to maintain and improve safety and quality in their facilities. The documents created and used by the...
As values shift, it’s time to add something back to nursing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 24, 2023
It seems like everything these days requires a value proposition to be appealing. What can we add to an experience or a product to make it better and one-up the competition?
What’s old isn’t working. What’s new is funding accountability and care outcomes.
By
Zach Shamberg
Feb 21, 2024
In 2024, Pennsylvania’s long-term care continuum, including nearly 700 nursing homes across the state, finds itself at a true crossroads of accountability and care outcomes. We’re two years removed...