As Diversicare’s director of training, Ted Heenan has become an expert on staff-training challenges. All too often, he says, it consists of herding bored people into a room to hear information that...
Feds seek tornado shelters for residents
By
John O'Connor
May 01, 2014
The deadly tornado that destroyed a Missouri nursing home three years ago showed that long-term care facilities need to have specially designed shelter areas, says a recently released government report.
Making sure our stuff matters
By
John O'Connor
Aug 01, 2008
Whenever I talk with long-term care professionals, I like to ask why they have chosen to do this work. Let’s face it, this is not a field for sissies.
Administrators pan pay-for-performance
By
John O'Connor
Jun 01, 2014
Most nursing home administrators do not believe that pay-for-performance initiatives lead to improved resident care or stronger bottom lines, according to findings recently published in the Journal of...
Departing workers are outpacing arrivals
By
John O'Connor
Mar 04, 2015
Workers are continuing to leave the field faster than they arrive, a new study finds.
Time to revamp Medicaid
By
John O'Connor
Aug 01, 2012
As this goes to press, many of the nation’s governors are sorting out a major Medicaid decision: Take the money or run.
This year I promise to…
By
John O'Connor
Jan 03, 2011
It’s very possible that as you are reading this, you have already abandoned those sincere New Year’s promises you made to yourself as 2011 was ringing in. If so, you’re hardly alone.
Make some good news
By
John O'Connor
Jul 09, 2018
If I’m going to be truthful about my Catholic School education, many of the lessons remain less memorable than the nuns who delivered them. Suffice it to say, assault and battery charges have been...
Medicare, Medicaid likely to start requiring tech tool use
By
John O'Connor
Sep 01, 2013
As sharing of electronic health information becomes standard across all care settings, using technology may become a prerequisite for providers to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, according...
Tech tools could disclose physical and emotional info
By
John O'Connor
Aug 02, 2011
Wireless mobile technology that can track daily activities such as walking, sitting and standing could help unearth important physical and emotional health data, new research suggests.