Returning from an early morning walk down to the harbor of this sleepy Cape Cod town, it’s hard not to feel hopeful. My geriatric pups Melvin and Theodore couldn’t get enough of the sea smells...
Bingo: The road to ruins or the road to riches?
By
Steven Littlehale
May 21, 2018
Grandma sure liked her bingo. She excelled at bingo and most card games. Even in games that seemed to involve no skill at all, Grandma almost always emerged the winner.
How will PBJ impact Five-Star staffing? Would you like one lump or two?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 30, 2018
We don’t know when, and we don’t know how, but when Payroll-Based Journal staffing data replaces the data currently being captured from CMS Form 671 for calculating Five-Star staffing, we are...
How good does your data need to be?
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 29, 2018
It’s a loaded question: How good does your data need to be? If we’re honest with ourselves, we must admit that we’re not perfect. Nor are the systems we create to help minimize error...
Five-Star is anything but frozen
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 13, 2017
The day after Thanksgiving, CMS further defined its intensions with the Five-Star Quality Rating System; more specifically how the new survey process and derivative data will be used in its calculation...
The cheese has moved … will Sniff find it?
By
Steven Littlehale
Aug 23, 2017
Imagine my surprise when several people came bearing the shocking news that “the MDS will not matter anymore” and that RCS-1 is “the end of the MDS.” Wait, what? Not on your life!
And he did it ‘his way’ — will you and yours?
By
Steven Littlehale
Jul 21, 2017
Packing for New Jersey to help Bernie (my father-in-law, whom I was honored to call “Dad”) navigate his transition from hospitalization to SNF, something told me to pack a suit.
Don’t mess with my Uber rating!
By
Steven Littlehale
Jun 21, 2017
My most recent trip to Washington, D.C., was wrapping up like most others. I was heading to Reagan Airport by way of Uber, but what happened next was not typical — and drove me to write this piece.
I was a HIMSS Virgin (#HIMSSnewbie)
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 24, 2017
Yes, this was my first time. I was nervous and did not know what to expect. Let me start with a confession: Five years ago, I didn’t even know what HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems...
When technology fails us: ‘We talk’
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 19, 2016
Driving my Grandma to one of her favorite restaurants to celebrate a significant birthday (she prefers that I don’t specify which) offered me an important lesson in communication.