COVID vaccines for LTC employees: To mandate or not?
By
Andrew Roach
May 24, 2021
After a year that has required long term care facilities to manage various, often competing, considerations while making a series of difficult decisions, they now are grappling with the question of whether...
Tough lessons to swallow on MDS Section K?
By
Renee Kinder
Aug 30, 2018
Coding accuracy is going to be more important than ever, particularly when it comes to swallowing evaluations, under the government’s new payment model. Here’s the rundown.
Why nurses are feeling the strain of COVID-19 and four things they can do about it
By
John Lee
Sep 14, 2020
While solutions to the coronavirus pandemic are still up in the air, data and personal testimony abounds on just how hard hit the medical community — in particular nurses —have been by COVID-19. As...
Bring in the rocks
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 18, 2019
The troubling news that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is conducting a “comprehensive review” of nursing home regulations hit me like a truckload of giant boulders dropped on a homeless...
Obamacare manageable in long-term care facilities
By
Richard Brame
Jun 12, 2013
Many long-term care providers are worried about rising health insurance costs for groups. Health insurance costs will climb 15% to 40% for groups in 2014. However, there are opportunities to manage this...
When formulating advance directives, the more detailed the better
By
Ira Rosofsky
Jun 10, 2009
Advance directives such as “do not resuscitate” and “comfort measures only” do not provide sufficient guidance with more complicated end-of-life situations.
California medical association strongly supports the president’s nursing home plan
By
Michael Wasserman
Mar 28, 2022
The California Association of Long Term Care Medicine (CALTCM) applauds President Biden’s ambitious plan to improve the care of our nursing home residents. CALTCM is the medical voice of long-term...
You think we’re doing this for fun?
By
Renee Kinder
Feb 03, 2022
Two weeks ago, over her post-game Chick-fil-A, my 14-year-old put me in my place. I was, because I thought being a good mother required so, upset over the overly aggressive basketball schedule her father...
Therapists, take note! FY 2022 changes in PDPM ICD-10
By
Renee Kinder
Aug 12, 2021
The long-awaited final rule for FY 2022 provided updates in payment rates, wage index, value-based purchasing, quality reporting and a pause to the anticipated parity adjustment. Of equal interest, we...
NYT: You are as much of the problem as the Five-Star system
By
Steven Littlehale
Apr 02, 2021
A recent New York Times article about nursing homes is shameful, lazy journalism. Coupled with the need to sell advertising space, it purposefully perpetuates misunderstandings about nursing homes, caregivers...