What’s your load? How nurses can lighten med usage
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jan 23, 2014
The US Food and Drug Administration recently requested that practitioners stop prescribing combination prescription pain medications that have more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per tablet, capsule, etc.,...
The Manual Medical Review mess
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Oct 29, 2012
What a mess — and that’s probably an understatement! Medicare Part B decided to roll out its new manual medical review process by dividing providers into three phases. If you are unfortunate to...
Understanding social determinants of health and rehab
By
Renee Kinder
Jun 23, 2022
Social determinants of health, understanding what they are, their impact on patient care, and their influence on effective transitions across care settings are all essential for rehab providers. This area...
End-of-Life option laws should avoid needless red tape
By
Kim Callinan
Jan 01, 2019
Medical aid in dying is the most regulated end-of-life care option — far more regulated than other end-of-life care options — which have far greater risk for abuse or coercion, such as palliative...
As demand increases for granny cams, what should LTC facilities do?
By
Nancy Reynolds
Dec 20, 2017
The post-Hurricane Irma disaster at a Florida nursing home, where multiple residents died from heat-related problems when the electricity went out, prompted a last-minute legislative add-on — allowing...
LTC: Seize on opportunity as senators support palliative care access
By
Allison Silvers
Jul 15, 2022
On June 17, 2022, Senators Rosen (D-NV), Barrasso (R-WY) and Fischer (R-NE) sent a letter to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) asking it to support access to palliative care wherever...
Therapists, take note! Proposed changes to ICD-10 mapping
By
Renee Kinder
May 12, 2022
The buzz around the proposed rule for fiscal 2023 continues as providers aim to review, digest and comment on proposed updates to the SNF payment rates, wage index adjustments, methodology for recalibrating...
Cybersecurity scams: Don’t get caught in the net
By
Shawn Nelson
Jun 16, 2017
Email has evolved into a mission-critical business function for many senior living organizations, and for this reason, it has also become the key mechanism used by cybercriminals to gain access to protected...
Growing Good
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Jan 05, 2016
In the wee hours of the night I recently discovered a Facebook post about a company founded by two brothers called Life is Good. It emerged from the standing request the founders’ mother had for...
Failing to manage harassment of workers can lead to litigation
By
Lisa M. Kathumbi
May 04, 2015
State and federal lawmakers have recognized a patient’s “right to choose.” However, state and federal law also prohibits discrimination and harassment based upon race, sex, age, disability,...