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...
Home (safety) for the holidays
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 21, 2012
It’s hard to believe the holidays are already here. As I have frantically baked cookies, mailed holiday cards and waited in long lines for the perfect gift, I couldn’t help but people-watch....
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 …
Increasing length-of-stay
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 30, 2012
Length-of-stay — LOS — is one of those management reports that often leaves administrators and upper management bewildered. If you increase LOS, you essentially increase your census.
How to avoid end-of-therapy pitfalls
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Oct 28, 2011
You are not required to offer therapy services on weekends under new MDS 3.0 changes instituted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But you do have to be careful if you don’t.
When your inpatient is an outpatient
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Sep 01, 2016
Working in the SNF environment as long as I have (don’t ask) I have encountered lots of myths, rumors, fables and tales about how therapy should operate in our very limited community.
Better to let sleeping nursing-home dogs lie
By
Liza Berger
May 11, 2009
Say it’s not true! Could it really be that dogs, those loving, joyful, drooling creatures, actually can transfer illnesses such as MRSA and C.difficile to residents in nursing homes? Pardon my intellectual...
Should SNF therapy vendors use QAPI?
By
Tara Roberts
Nov 06, 2014
While some long-term care providers have been slower to look at QAPI processes, others are ready to implement. Therapy vendors also should be considering adopting and operationalizing QAPI.
Long-term care and therapy: It’s complicated
Sep 09, 2014
There is an option in Facebook to mark your relationship status as, “It’s complicated.” This is a great way to sum up everything, without getting too personal. Even though posting your...
Who takes your cake?
By
Renee Kinder
Oct 25, 2018
We all know that the strongest team members are not often the most vocal. They may be the quietest, working behind the scenes, but focused always with a plan in mind, and a smile on their face.