Latest Medicare fraud allegations just an appetizer
By
John O'Connor
May 10, 2013
As we’ve been predicting here for some time, allegations of mismanaged therapy care are starting to land nursing homes in some seriously hot water.
Shamelessly invoice at your own risk
By
John O'Connor
Mar 22, 2013
Here’s the good news for providers: new analytics are making it possible to understand and bill your care in ways that would have been impossible just a few years ago. Here’s the bad news:...
Gold-medal intern wins fans
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 01, 2013
Fairhaven Manor’s Amy Kotterman wasn’t sure her incoming graduate student intern was the Katie Smith until receiving an unusual voicemail. Smith called to say she would miss a day of her upcoming...
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,...
Ask the payment expert … about inaccurate MDS therapy information
By
Patricia Boyer
Feb 01, 2013
What happens if my therapy company makes an error on the MDS and as a result, a change of therapy was missed? Are we still responsible?
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.
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....
When LTC leaders delegate accountability
By
John O'Connor
Nov 19, 2012
What happens when delegation without accountability takes place? We saw a good example last week, when the Office of Inspector General released a damning report about excessive Medicare charges from nursing...
Top 10 nursing home strategies to avoid hospital admissions
By
Marge Mercury, RN, MS, CMCE
Oct 30, 2012
Hospitalizations of frail nursing home residents can result in higher costs, complications, and death. Fifteen percent of long-term nursing home residents are hospitalized in any given six-month period,...
The resident’s ‘right to refuse’
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Aug 28, 2012
Therapy services can be a tricky business when working with residents with a history of “behavioral issues.”