How fascinating was the solar eclipse this week? I am still in awe of the posts, shares and stories I hear about how the skilled nursing facilities embraced the day and found ways to allow those...
Medicare Advantage: A not-so-advantageous deal for beneficiaries and providers
By
Brendan Williams
Nov 29, 2023
Open enrollment is well underway for Medicare, as television viewers inundated with cheesy insurance company ads can tell. Those ads must work. For the first time 2024 will see most Medicare...
Delaying death not enough for nursing home residents
By
Jim Towey
Jul 08, 2020
Strict isolation. Constant surveillance. No communal dining or group activities. No hugs, no touching, no visitors except in extreme cases. This may sound like life on death row, but in...
How to minimize disputes in SNFs
By
Joel Landau
May 24, 2019
At first glance the headline strained the bonds of credulity. But there it was, earlier this year, above a story about an 86-year-old and a 79-year-old brawling over a chair before a bingo game in the...
Why Five-Star ratings should measure staff retention, not staff ratios
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Mar 26, 2019
If we shift to a system that measures staff retention rather than staff ratios, the whole picture changes.
The path forward for struggling nursing homes
By
Patrick McCormick
Nov 14, 2018
A convergence of market pressures is bearing down on the nursing home industry. Changing demographics, old infrastructure, new competition, rising labor costs and a plethora of never-ending reimbursement...
9 things NOT to expect in a nursing home
By
Esther Heerema, MSW
Dec 17, 2014
Family members need to know what to expect when their loved one enters a nursing home: Falls may happen, medications may change, and a private room may not be an option.
Caring means remembering the ‘who’
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jul 09, 2013
I have read two things that really got me thinking how it’s imperative we have to know “who” our residents are. Not by disease or condition, but by their history.
More incentives to embrace technology
By
Jim Rock
Aug 03, 2010
Legislative and regulatory changes are forcing nursing home providers to seize opportunities to incorporate charting and care-plan technology into their facilities.
Maintaining your COVID-19 library of materials
By
Jacquelyn Smith Clarke
Feb 07, 2022
As the pandemic progresses, we have become used to the constant upending of what we thought we once knew. From PPE guidance to testing and vaccines, the amount of information and how quickly it changes...