Q: How have you increased employee engagement at Villa Healthcare? A:I helped start a service excellence program called B.E.T.T.E.R. that holds both residents and employees as equals to help foster a better...
Profile: Going to bat for seniors
By
Amy Novotney
Jun 06, 2019
For Nick Vizzoca, nothing beats a summer evening spent at PNC Park eating a hot dog while watching the Pittsburgh Pirates. But a close second is seeing the residents of Terrace Place at Vincentian,...
Disposing I.C. advice
By
John Hall
Jun 06, 2019
Nursing homes are in a constant state of war with stubborn pathogens. Diligently staying clean while contending with the latest infection control rules is no picnic. Every day, staff are confronted with...
SNF nurse feted as hero after saving baby in flight
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 06, 2019
Tiffany Lehman stands as a shining example of what a nursing home nurse can do when faced with an emergency situation. Lehman was the right person, in the right place, with the right amount of guts...
CMS sends a message
By
John O'Connor
Jun 06, 2019
It’s no secret that finding and keeping nurses is one of the skilled care sector’s biggest headaches. But it would appear that the folks who regulate this field don’t want to hear it any more. As...
Excel Health focuses on SNF intelligence
By
Elizabeth Newman
Jun 06, 2019
Excel Health has announced availability of its business intelligence solution for skilled nursing facilities. The company analyzed more than 1.25 billion claims across the care continuum to develop...
Verma: Some alternative pay models should be mandated
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 06, 2019
Making new Medicare payment models mandatory is crucial to avoid “selection effects,” where only providers who benefit financially from a model participate, reducing potential savings, said Medicare...
Today’s mobile LTC resident can add layers of complication to bathing safety
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 01, 2019
Given an increasingly ambulatory population, the presence of water and the kind of warm and moist environment that invites bacteria to breed, risk is inherent in skilled nursing bathing areas.
Common areas earning special second looks as the heart of senior living spaces
By
John Hall
May 01, 2019
Common spaces in long-term care communities have received renewed interest in recent years, being viewed in some design circles as the “heart,” or core, of senior communities. This holds true even...
Editor’s Desk: Pondering what PDPM should really stand for
By
James M. Berklan
May 01, 2019
If you’ve toiled around the skilled nursing field over the last year, you might have noticed there’s this PDPM thing that seems to be grabbing a lot of attention.