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...
The top 11 questions all operators still have to answer in 2018
By
Derek Pierce
Mar 23, 2018
There are many factors that determine what can or must be done to ensure a facility can survive and ultimately thrive. These 11 questions help to indicate the stability and sustainability of a facility...
LTC’s ‘story of the year’ awaiting next chapter
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 22, 2018
Providers and other stakeholders must feel like school children sitting in the principal’s outer office, anxiously — if not eagerly — awaiting their fate.
Congress should require more Medicare claim auditing — before and after payment
By
Kristin Walter
Mar 16, 2018
There is a much more efficient solution to reducing Medicare spending than the proposed broad cuts to the program budget: Reduce the billions of dollars in incorrect payments each year.
Tele-ing it like it is: We’ve got a lot to learn
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 15, 2018
On its face, this process seems so simple, especially given technology advances lately. Kids do it, even grandmas and grandpas are doing it. So why can’t the U.S. medical community do it better?
New perspectives on aging and healthcare
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Mar 13, 2018
Three new books on aging and healthcare recently crossed my desk, each with completely different takes on our industry. Each has merit for anyone involved with senior care.
Being mindful of light bulbs in your community can produce noticeable savings
By
Aaron Oosterbaan
Mar 12, 2018
There are several ways that operators are driving down costs, but one avenue they’re taking is to replace aging components with new technologies. And one simple and effective change is swapping out...
Are we entering skilled care’s Golden Age? The answer might surprise you.
By
John O'Connor
Mar 05, 2018
It’s very possible historians may look back at 2018 as a kind of Golden Age for skilled care. No, I have not been drinking.
Improving our industry, one project at a time
By
Geoff Fraser
Feb 20, 2018
The senior living industry is hungry for modernization and improvement. Creativity, innovation and relationships are the key to bringing down some hard-to-tackle issues innate to the present backdrop of...
To help elderly patients, CMS should prohibit PBM fees – not reform them
By
Alan G. Rosenbloom
Feb 16, 2018
Over just the past few years, the nation’s three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) – CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx – have come to control more than 80% of prescriptions...