I’m here in Florida trying to prepare for this hurricane we are supposed to get as I write this. You know, you can do your best to prepare but as you’re scurrying about, knowing it’s hurricane season,...
From talk to action: Moving forward with nursing home quality improvement
By
Isaac Longobardi
Alice Bonner
Jasmine Travers, Ph.D., R.N.,
Aug 30, 2023
This May, the Senate Special Committee on Aging released a report on the shortcomings of nursing home oversight in the U.S. “Uninspected and Neglected” found that nearly one-third of nursing homes...
Revamping CMS survey data integration amid regulatory lag in nursing home oversight
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 08, 2023
The report titled “Uninspected and Neglected” by the majority staff of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging brings attention to a pressing issue: the severe understaffing of inspection agencies...
Healthcare fraud rampant, but OIG refines its focus on nursing homes
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Feb 19, 2024
For 2024, healthcare fraud has already been rampant, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. But on Jan. 19, the OIG took a specific stance with...
Fasten your seatbelts: It MIGHT be a bumpy ride
By
Steven Littlehale
Oct 13, 2023
It’s been a flurry of activity leading up to the implementation of the “new MDS.” For months our industry has been doing what we do best — rising to the occasion. Countless MDS training sessions,...
Conducting and documenting meaningful fire drills in LTC facilities
By
Stan Szpytek
Apr 16, 2024
From some of our earliest memories in elementary school as little kids, we all recall participating in fire drills on a periodic basis. Of course, the purpose of those fire drills was to train students,...
Doctoral research doesn’t support the need for CMS proposed staffing mandates
By
Melissa Reed
Nov 15, 2023
Quality of care in long-term care settings has been perceived as an ongoing concern that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) aims to solve with its proposed staffing mandate. The proposed...
Caregiver training CPT codes proposed for CY 2024
By
Renee Kinder
Jul 20, 2023
The newly released CY 2024 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule holds exciting news for therapists and caregivers. We have three new codes to be used for reporting the total duration...
The coming cicada invasion. Can the MDS compete?
By
Joel VanEaton
Feb 20, 2024
I am constantly reminded how the complexities of nature astound me. Recently, I became aware of the impending cicada invasion that will happen this year in various regions of the United States. According...
Playing politics with nursing home care
By
Brendan Williams
Apr 23, 2024
Tragicomically, CMS asserts “this final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities[.]”