Why nursing homes can exhale — but not get complacent
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 07, 2017
The announced delay of full enforcement of new survey requirements is indeed good news for nursing home operators and all of their compliance officers. Their blood pressure should now lower a few millimeters....
CMS gives providers a mug with a gift card
By
Elizabeth Newman
Nov 28, 2017
Never have Rolling Stones’ lyrics come faster into my head than when I saw the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would give an 18-month enforcement delay for certain Phase 2 regulations.
Reducing seniors’ drug use, one iPod at a time
By
John O'Connor
Mar 28, 2014
For reasons that are understandable yet hard to countenance, antipsychotic drugs are widely used in nursing homes. Too often over-used, according to government statistics. But it’s beginning to look...
Message from the White House: Don’t trust nursing homes
By
John O'Connor
Mar 08, 2013
Ever wonder how much regard the White House has for long-term care operators? A brief filed last week makes the answer abundantly clear: very little.
White House to providers: New antibiotic regs on the way
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 23, 2014
Long-term care providers should take pride in their antipsychotic reduction efforts, and certainly should work hard to meet the new goals announced Friday. But it should not escape their notice that just...
How should long-term care providers celebrate? Let us count the ways
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 31, 2016
Long-term care operators have plenty of reasons to recoil and lick their wounds over the course of a year. But there are also good times when they should find reason to smile. Like this past week.
The truth(s) about the big nursing home COVID hearing
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 22, 2022
There were a lot of things at this retrospective coronavirus carnival. But what might have been most remarkable was not represented at this nursing home-centric hearing. Nursing homes.
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’...
Reducing antipsychotics one resident at a time
By
John O'Connor
Dec 02, 2013
Like many bad habits, the overuse of antipsychotics is not going down without a fight. Still, there are reasons for long-term optimism.
New ACO proposals could leave long-term care providers smiling
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 03, 2014
If nothing else, federal health officials displayed Monday that they are intent on getting this accountable care organization (ACO) thing right. Or at least closer to “right” than it has been.