Kindred Healthcare has succeeded in its quest to acquire Gentiva Health Services. The companies announced Thursday morning they would combine to create the fourth-biggest healthcare provider of any type...
Lawmakers go to bat for providers over backlogged Medicare appeals
By
James M. Berklan
May 22, 2014
Angry lawmakers ripped an overwhelmed Medicare appeals process that has wilted under a tenfold increase in audits recently. Federal officials from two key agencies agreed that the Medicare’s Recovery...
Editor’s Desk: Staffing lawsuits in the West are ominous signs
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 01, 2010
Those rumblings you might have felt recently from the West Coast had nothing to do with earthquakes. They’re the stuff of potential nightmares if you’re a nursing home operator.
Editor’s Desk: A proposal that could hit you like an (I)MAC truck
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 01, 2009
We can forgive providers if they sense a bit of vertigo coming on. When legislators look to give back power, up truly must seem like down and down seem like up.
Where did 2012 go? It’s really quite simple to see
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 01, 2012
By the time December rolls around, it’s safe to say many thoughts are toward finishing the year on a high note. Or for pragmatists and forward-thinkers, setting up strongly for the flip of the calendar...
Psychologists ‘outraged’ over federal plan they say omits seniors
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 15, 2014
Mental healthcare providers for the elderly expressed anger Thursday over an apparent snub of seniors mental health services in a proposed new federal behavioral health plan.
Blockbuster productions that you want no part in
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 01, 2014
With another summer of huge movies nearly behind us, it’s a good time for providers to exhale in relief. Or wonder anxiously if they have been on camera themselves. Especially if Mike DeWine would...
Editor’s Desk: An idea whose time has come for skilled nursing
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 01, 2009
The 2010 National Skilled Nursing Investment Forum is an idea that has been staring us in the face for numerous years.
Tired of the bum rap? Here’s how to rise above
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 02, 2013
It’s no wonder you, as a long-term care provider, might get fed up with the general media. Sometimes it has to seem that mass media journalists must sit around the office, wondering what they can...
Officials: More additions and rebasings of nursing home ratings to come
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 23, 2015
Nearly one-third of the nation’s skilled nursing facilities lost a rating star due purely to administrative changes Friday, when regulators also emphasized that more quality measures will be added...