Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who died late Tuesday at 77, shepherded pivotal healthcare legislation through Congress. His best accomplishment may have been yet to come, according to the leader of a major...
Seniors take Medicare cuts seriously
By
Liza Berger
Aug 11, 2009
Lawmakers should have seen it coming. When they proposed cutting Medicare by the billions over the next decade they should have suspected that seniors would rise up to protest. And that’s exactly what...
OIG’s chiropractic report should draw more attention
By
Elizabeth Newman
Feb 21, 2018
A report last week from the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General on fraud related to Medicare and chiropractic reimbursement led me to ask the following question aloud: “Wait, Medicare...
A bad surveyor workplace hurts providers
By
Elizabeth Newman
Jan 31, 2018
As difficult as your job may be — and I know there are many long days — it’s worthwhile to remind yourself it could always be worse. You could be a nursing home surveyor in Idaho.
A mundane hospital hack
By
Elizabeth Newman
Jan 06, 2017
It’s worthwhile to examine news from Concord, NH, involving a data breach of 15,000 patient records. On first blush, the question both providers and journalists might ask is if the compromised records...
We were all in on the scheme and didn’t even know it
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 06, 2015
The recent past came rushing up other day, and it wound up whisking all of us onto the set of some fast-paced, financial mayhem-filled movie. Yes, you were there, too — though like me, you might not...
Giving thanks for what matters most in the long-term care profession
By
Marty Stempniak
Nov 20, 2018
It’s important to know what really matters at this time of year.
Fike 2.0: How national tragedy created a long-term care champion
By
Tim Mullaney
May 20, 2014
Last week, President Obama dedicated the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. The occasion got me thinking about how the searing experience instilled in some survivors a fierce sense of mission. Katy...
And the award for most maligned part of long-term care goes to …
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 10, 2017
It took a while, but I might have finally found something that therapy providers can point to with righteous indignation and say, “That ain’t right!”
Arbitration clauses and tearing the baby in two
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 16, 2019
In case you’ve been sleeping since late yesterday or doing something else like, oh, taking care of frail and elderly patients, you might have missed the big news: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...