COVID-19 dealt a devastating blow to nursing homes — don’t let looming cuts make it worse
By
Cynthia Morton
Jul 12, 2021
In late June, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released a report stating that approximately 42% of Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes were diagnosed with...
After the train
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 08, 2021
There’s a hopeful phrase we started hearing a lot from long-term care leaders, residents and staff when the vaccines first arrived—“a light at the end of the tunnel.” Invariably some wise-guy or...
Is it fair to give nursing homes the Martin Shkreli treatment?
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 07, 2021
Nursing homes found themselves lumped in with Pharma Bro-turned-felon Martin Shkreli in this year’s Top 10 ranking of “the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare.”
CDC: Portable air cleaners cut exposure to COVID-19 virus by 65 percent
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 06, 2021
In a simulated meeting with infected and uninfected participants, properly placed portable air cleaners with HEPA air filters slashed virus transmission. Adding masks was even more effective — cutting...
J&J vaccine effective against COVID Delta variant, drugmaker says
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 06, 2021
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine prompts a “strong neutralizing antibody response” that lasts at least eight months, the drugmaker has announced.
COVID-19 falls from America’s No. 1 killer to No. 7 by June
Jul 01, 2021
(HealthDay News) — A steep rise in vaccination rates has dropped COVID-19 from the first to the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, a new analysis shows. The disease was the third leading...
Antigen tests just as effective as PCR in preventing COVID outbreaks, NIH study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 02, 2021
A “highly anticipated” study now shows that both testing approaches can give 98% sensitivity when used at least twice weekly in a screening program.
Wearers of medical masks and respirators have same infection rates in healthcare settings: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 24, 2021
The risk of receiving a positive COVID-19 test result was the same among healthcare workers who wore either type of mask, investigators say. In contrast, their non-mask-wearing colleagues had significantly...
My look: Forever changed by the pandemic?
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Jun 22, 2021
For my first 20-plus years as a long-term care psychologist, I arrived on the job wearing not just clothes, but outfits. I chose garb that contributed to the sense of “expertness, attractiveness, and...
CDC issues clinical guidance for treating post-COVID conditions
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 17, 2021
Many cases can be managed by primary care providers, federal health officials say. A lack of lab or imaging abnormalities does not invalidate the existence or severity of a patient’s symptoms or conditions,...