How do skilled nursing facilities, clinics and hospitals think about therapy? Focusing on patient satisfaction and revenue is a good start, but it is not enough. As therapy continues to be scrutinized...
Medically Complex Medicare Part B
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
May 08, 2013
While CMS tries to figure out how to proceed with the manual medical review process, we continue to track our caps and apply our modifiers. In the meantime, has anyone noticed how our typical Medicare...
Upon further review
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 02, 2013
Instead of spending more time doing hands-on patient care, therapists who work with Medicare beneficiaries have been strapped with increased administrative tasks, sometimes leading to delayed services,...
OIG? OMG! One lump problem
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 23, 2013
The Office of the Inspector General’s recent report about what it calls $1.5 billion in inappropriate Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities should be yet another wake-up call to providers.
Changing therapy trends spark launch of new company
By
Kristy Wikum
Jan 17, 2013
It’s no secret health care is changing and that we, as professionals, need to be a part of that change to improve the overall system. Part of this improvement involves helping patients quickly return...
Are computers overtaking the therapy department?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Oct 18, 2012
Are we being replaced by computers? Most likely the answer is no, but … computers have made our jobs more efficient, right? Right?
SNF rehab claims scrutinized more than ever, expert says
Jul 11, 2012
Nursing home administrators who can’t substantiate every minute of rehab therapy delivered in their building leave themselves open to increasingly common audits and surveys, a top MDS 3.0 expert...
Therapists can co-treat? Why yes, they can!
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Apr 19, 2012
Have you heard? Yes, it’s true. We can now provide therapy co-treatment with another discipline WITHOUT splitting our treatment time. But, not so fast …
A good first step but more to do with MDS 3.0
By
Leah Klusch, RN, BSN, FACHCA
Mar 07, 2012
It was a long first day, but there was tremendous value and everyone who is here has learned what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ positions are with the April updates and some of the...
Point-of-service: Friend or foe?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Feb 22, 2012
As a manager, I used to love to promote point-of-service, or POS. As a therapist, I used to despise POS. How could I have such a love-hate relationship with POS?