When I was a child, I remember watching the movie Pinocchio. For those not familiar with the story or movie, there was a character in it, a talking cricket named “Jiminy Cricket.” In the movie,...
Supreme Court levels the playing field for SNFs
By
Alan C. Horowitz, Esq., RN
May 01, 2023
As part of its survey process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is authorized to take several enforcement actions, including but not limited to imposing civil money penalties (CMP), denials...
SAMI: The tech integration spurring an increase in resident occupancy rates
Apr 20, 2023
ShiftKey CEO, Tom Ellis, discusses how tech-forward approaches to workforce gaps empower licensed professionals and enable facilities to make informed decisions that drive effective, consistent care.
Great resume. Now can I have a lock of your hair?
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 20, 2023
When interviewing a prospective long-term care employee, you’re right to be extremely skeptical. In this age of blatant resume deception and social media artifice, reality can be many layers deep. So...
Will you pass CMS’s new schizophrenia MDS audits?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 31, 2023
In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started focused on-site surveys to address the issue of erroneous coding of schizophrenia in nursing homes. More recently, the agency began conducting...
Prior authorization guidance for the rehab provider
By
Renee Kinder
Mar 30, 2023
As a rehab professional, is there anything more miserable than the gathering of stacks of documents and searching for records needed for pre-authorization? Awful scans, missing documents, and most importantly...
March, the summer solstice, and social determinants of health
By
Joel VanEaton
Mar 21, 2023
Daylight-saving time is finally here! I look forward to the day in March that it arrives starting June 21 every year. What’s June 21 you ask? Why, it’s the summer solstice. The summer solstice is...
Bad survey? Call your medical director
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Mar 20, 2023
I recently won a case against state surveyors and I learned something new… again. The surveyors were adamant that the facility neglected a resident, and cited violations of policies, and criticized...
We don’t have any frogs. Now go away.
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 09, 2023
In a cruel twist of fate, I spent the past weekend in Las Vegas. Now, before I say more, I need to be clear: I love the people of Vegas, the long-term care facilities of Vegas, the long-term care staff...
New nursing home inspection reporting creates questions for facilities
By
Christine Burke Worthen
Lily Shannon
Mar 06, 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented a new policy on Jan. 25, 2023, which requires the nursing home industry to publicly post “disputed facility inspection results” on a government...