After the great vaccine rally, LTC has another big concerted effort to look forward to
By
James M. Berklan
Jan 22, 2021
The world’s collective race to develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines has been valuable in many ways.
BREAKING: Feds increase COVID-19 funding dedicated to nursing homes to nearly $10 billion
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 22, 2020
The administration will be more than doubling funding dedicated directly to nursing homes to fight the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to an additional $5 billion announced by President Trump at a briefing...
A message from the future president of the United States
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 09, 2016
Last week in this space, I solved our nation’s problems, and long-term care’s, all in one fell swoop. Since then, there have been more embarrassing debates among bickering candidates for president,...
Provider still riding high two years after ‘Piano Guys’ created viral video
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 30, 2013
Many a long-term care provider has been known to sample Cub Scout choirs, tamburitza bands and alleyways of off-off-off Broadway in search of talent to entertain his or her residents. Then, there are the...
Wondering: Did nursing travel back in a time machine?
By
James M. Berklan
May 12, 2022
During a time when nurses have never been in higher demand, and salaries for them and so many other healthcare professionals are leaping, researchers reported that the salary gap between male and female...
Feds’ ‘dramatic expansion’ of telehealth widens payment coverage; HIPAA rules are relaxed for COVID-19
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 18, 2020
The federal government removed Medicare restrictions for telehealth coverage nationwide Tuesday while also temporarily relaxing HIPAA obligations for providers. The latter opens the door for doctors’...
The biggest question about PDPM going forward
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 06, 2019
Having survived the fall 2019 long-term care convention season is no small feat if you’ve been on the road as much as some of the staunch LTC professionals I’ve seen over the past two months. For many,...
CMS’s latest 5-Star changes leaving a bad taste
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 11, 2019
There was no consoling my friend the restaurateur. Since when did having a lot of top-notch dining options become a bad thing?
Therapy carnage at start of PDPM not as severe as feared: study
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 02, 2021
The first academic study of its kind has found that the first three months of nursing homes’ overhauled Medicare payment system at the end of 2019 led to a distinct drop-off in the employed number of...
BREAKING: Federal regulators tout $15M in fines, tripling of ‘Immediate Jeopardy’ citations against...
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 14, 2020
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Friday afternoon that it has levied more than $15 million in fines and tripled the most severe type of citations to nursing homes during the six months...