The day after Thanksgiving, CMS further defined its intensions with the Five-Star Quality Rating System; more specifically how the new survey process and derivative data will be used in its calculation...
It’s time to put up or shut up on vaccine mandates
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 20, 2021
Will Wednesday’s White House announcement that COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandated for nursing home employees be a dealbreaker? It depends.
Is the doctor in? Improve nursing homes with one easy stroke
By
Kenneth Lehmann
Apr 14, 2021
Many nursing home COVID-19 patients would have benefitted from daily, reimbursed-for physician visits in their skilled nursing facilities, but they were not entitled to them. With an epic crisis...
Getting ready for the unthinkable
By
Richard Cheng
Mar 12, 2014
Natural disasters and catastrophic events by definition arise unpredictably and consequently do not remain even in the back of people’s minds on a consistent basis.
Old wine, new bottles: Increased scrutiny for antipsychotic drug use
By
Alan C. Horowitz, Esq., RN
Feb 22, 2013
The landmark legislation known as “OBRA ’87” (the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987) significantly limited the inappropriate use of antipsychotic drug use in long-term care facilities....
Long-term care: a bear or bull market?
By
John O'Connor
Apr 18, 2022
When it comes to the long-term care market, is this a time to view it as bearish or bullish?
iPods coming to an eldercare facility near you
By
Mary Gustafson
Jul 26, 2012
When I first spoke with Music & Memory founder Dan Cohen last year, he had big plans for his new program that would put iPods with personalized playlists in Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients’...
Nursing homes see the buck passed — the wrong way
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 09, 2022
Always at the mercy of government regulators and payments, nursing home operators are getting a classic lesson in what “passing the buck” means these days.
Debating the obscure parts of the final rule
Sep 30, 2016
If misery loves company, take comfort in knowing many of your long-term care colleagues are doing the same thing this week.
Antibiotics in LTC: Changing from ‘Just in case’ to ‘Only when needed’
By
Philip D. Sloane, M.D., MPH and Sheryl Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Mar 01, 2017
Prior to the discovery of antibiotics, the most common cause of death was infection. There was no good treatment for pneumonia, complications of urine or ear infections were common, and many people died...