It’s that time of year again, time to settle down and get refocused on our goals and … New Year’s resolutions that might have already been broken! Have you kept your resolutions? Has...
Analytically Speaking: MDS data accuracy
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 13, 2012
Since the late 1990’s, the Minimum Data Set has been a primary driver in the long-term care industry, influencing all areas of skilled nursing facility operations. With so much depending on it, ensuring...
Rise of COPD: Not hopeless
By
John W. Walsh
Jan 09, 2012
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become the third leading cause of death in the U.S. — 12 years earlier than predicted...
How to profit from the new regulation changes
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 04, 2012
Has the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services underestimated us again? I hope so. On Oct. 1, 2011, CMS implemented new regulation changes that added a Change of Therapy, COT OMRA, MDS. I believe it...
Happy holidays: ’tis the season for more rehab work
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 08, 2011
It’s that time of year again, the when our hospitals and nursing facilities start to fill up with patients suffering from new fractures, falls, pneumonia and other cardio-pulmonary diseases. However,...
Medical necessity — slippery for some
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 02, 2011
Medical necessity has become a common phrase in healthcare terminology, but what exactly does it mean? Unfortunately, this term has become very subjective and is the primary reason we have been denied...
Here’s how you can effectively schedule rehab
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Nov 14, 2011
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented its latest rounds of new and stricter regulations, the groan was heard throughout nursing homes across the country. But, I have good news:...
How to make your nursing facility RAC-ready
By
Bryan Baird
Nov 08, 2011
As skilled nursing facilities adjust to the changes to Medicare that arrived early last month, they must be ready for Recovery Audit Contractors. RACs are independent auditors for the government that are...
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.
Hope for old broads seeking sexual satisfaction
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Oct 20, 2011
Hey, does anyone out there remember my first blog? I mentioned sexuality in aging to get things started off? Well interestingly, a recent study by researchers at the Stein Institute for Research on Aging...