Trauma care, drug-reduction prove ‘scary’ tasks as guidance deadline approaches
By
Joe Bush
Oct 21, 2022
As staff at skilled nursing facilities scramble to comply with hundreds of pages of interpretive guidance that kicks in Monday, experts warned that one major emphasis should be on meeting new standards...
Not so fast: 10 states suing CMS over healthcare worker vax mandate
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 12, 2021
Despite many legal analysts’ view that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ healthcare worker vaccination mandate will clear legal muster, a group of 10 states have filed suit to stop it.
Specifics of point-of-care COVID-19 testing coming to all U.S. nursing homes; providers welcome move
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 15, 2020
The federal government’s plan to provide “point-of-care” COVID-19 tests to every single U.S. nursing home is “welcome news for long-term care residents, staff and providers.”
ICD-10 is around the corner, for real this time
Sep 18, 2014
There’s a looming massive report on all the hospital readmissions data in your area and the strategic plan your facility needs to pursue. It involves talking to lots of employees, gathering data,...
Push to decrease antipsychotics use has only just begun
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 14, 2012
If you feel like you’ve been reading a lot about antipsychotics lately, you’re not alone.
A slap in the face for LPNs who keep nursing homes running
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 19, 2023
There are about 175,000 LPNs working in nursing homes — critical staff members who might no longer fit into the SNF job market if the proposed staffing rule is finalized as currently written.
iPods coming to an eldercare facility near you
By
Mary Gustafson
Jul 26, 2012
When I first spoke with Music & Memory founder Dan Cohen last year, he had big plans for his new program that would put iPods with personalized playlists in Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients’...
Replace the Five Star Quality Ratings system with points?
By
John O'Connor
Nov 17, 2014
There’s a need to fix what’s broken with the Five Star nursing homes-ratings system, and the way to do it is obvious.
CMS to deliver ‘point-of-care’ COVID-19 test kits to all nursing homes
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 14, 2020
Thousands of nursing homes across the country will be given “point of care” COVID-19 tests by the administration starting next week, officials announced Tuesday.
Rule aimed at reducing red tape to come later, or maybe not all
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 20, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has officially delayed action on a three-year-old proposal to reduce some duplicative and “unnecessary” requirements for nursing homes another year, with...