Long-term care’s advantage can be a real difference maker
By
John O'Connor
Apr 01, 2023
Ask why long-term care employees do what they do and you’ll almost always hear it’s to make a difference.
Will you pass CMS’s new schizophrenia MDS audits?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 31, 2023
In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started focused on-site surveys to address the issue of erroneous coding of schizophrenia in nursing homes. More recently, the agency began conducting...
Don’t be a ‘Dumb A – – ’
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Mar 28, 2023
Let’s be honest here: There is such a thing as a stupid question, or ask. I would say especially if you are a reporter! I don’t think that’s just my bias. I was working in a small border town in...
Did AI write this article?
By
Joe Eaton
Mar 24, 2023
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is having a moment. By now, you must have heard something about how artificial intelligence is going to revolutionize this or that. Maybe you’re excited about that, maybe...
March, the summer solstice, and social determinants of health
By
Joel VanEaton
Mar 21, 2023
Daylight-saving time is finally here! I look forward to the day in March that it arrives starting June 21 every year. What’s June 21 you ask? Why, it’s the summer solstice. The summer solstice is...
‘Shedding a light … will be better for all,’ top defense attorney says of feds’ nursing...
Mar 20, 2023
Providers should not necessarily fear regulators’ ramped up scrutiny efforts on nursing home operators and private-equity investors in the long-term care space.
Bad survey? Call your medical director
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Mar 20, 2023
I recently won a case against state surveyors and I learned something new… again. The surveyors were adamant that the facility neglected a resident, and cited violations of policies, and criticized...
Think you could manage on a dollar a day?
By
John O'Connor
Mar 19, 2023
As crazy as this sounds, the daily personal needs allowance residents receive has not been raised a dollar since 1987. So the federal minimum remains at $30 a month.
If only nursing homes were banks
By
Brendan Williams
Mar 17, 2023
I went to high school in Iowa, where 19 nursing homes closed in 2022 alone. Surely, you might think, this has prompted a federal response.It isn’t. Instead, the federal government has chosen to bail...
With MedPAC, it pays to keep reading
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 16, 2023
You may never find a wonkier set of people than the folks with the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.