Arbitration agreement case in Georgia: What to understand
By
Brannon Arnold and Rick Sager
Mar 22, 2017
A recent decision from the Supreme Court of Georgia makes clear that a plaintiff who brings a wrongful death claim against a decedent’s nursing home is bound by the arbitration agreement entered...
Tackling the not-so-clean touchscreen
By
Melanie Waddell
Dec 21, 2016
Healthcare professionals recognize that long-term care facilities should be a safe haven for healing, not a breeding ground for germs. But there is an unexpected, omnipresent culprit lurking and often...
Does caring for specialty populations hurt your public profile?
By
Steven Littlehale
Jun 20, 2016
Many skilled nursing facilities are de facto specialty care centers with a disproportionately large number of certain types of residents. This scenario, unfortunately, can translate into a liability in...
Parkinson: It’s time for providers to consider special plans
By
James M. Berklan
Jan 16, 2019
Low occupancy. Low profit margins. Impossibly low reimbursements. Pressure to risk share. Inaccurate staffing tabulations. One can forgive Mark Parkinson if he ever seems distracted. As the president and...
Short-term rehab pros and cons
Sep 11, 2012
These types of short-term rehab patients usually produce the highest reimbursement rates. However, if you’re a facility that struggles with admissions and census, be aware that the length of stay...
Distinguishing pseudobulbar affect from depression: Clinical challenges and opportunities for long-term...
May 15, 2024
This article is sponsored by Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. In long-term care environments, it’s not uncommon for site staff including nurses, administrators, physical therapists, physicians and...
Have we lost our connection to what’s important?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Aug 15, 2014
We sometimes use high-minded phrases to describe our work and our hopes for our patients. But have we lost our connection to important words? Do they still hold meaning they once did, and if so, how strongly?
What’s on Your PEPPER Report?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Sep 10, 2013
Have you received your provider-specific PEPPER report yet? The Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) were mailed on August 30 and have been slowly arriving at skilled nursing...
Pressure ulcer prevention basics
By
James G. Spahn, M.D., FACS
May 13, 2013
What exactly is a pressure ulcer? It is mechanical stress—pressure, shear or friction—that causes ischemic necrosis of at-risk soft tissue. Pressure ulcers were once thought to happen only to those...
The call you do not want to make
By
Martie Moore
May 24, 2017
I can still remember it clearly when the phone rang and a serious voice on the other end of the line told me what happened. My loved one fell and, luckily, didn’t break any bones.