My focus on the importance of the medical director in improving nursing home quality occasionally gets pushback from family members who have had negative experiences with doctors in nursing homes. Those...
Reason for referral: Documentation tips for therapists
By
Renee Kinder
Mar 14, 2024
If you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen. How many times have we all heard those words? Today, I would like for us all to consider not merely the importance of documenting daily skilled care but...
The real cost of SFF inclusion
By
Annette Sanders
Mar 18, 2024
Since the onset of the pandemic, and more especially over the last two years, regulators have been cracking down on skilled nursing facilities. Research has shown that between 2015 and 2023, the share...
Moon landings and the MDS. What gives?
By
Joel VanEaton
Mar 19, 2024
You may be aware that on Feb. 22, Houston-based Intuitive Machines landed a spacecraft on the moon, making history as the first commercial craft to reach the lunar surface and the first U.S. spacecraft...
AI in healthcare: Trends for rehab professionals to watch in 2024
By
Renee Kinder
Jan 04, 2024
Artificial Intelligence (AI) — what does this really mean to you in your day-to-day patient care? We hear the acronym constantly, and we know we are told its use is growing. However, many skilled rehab...
What nursing homes need, versus what they get
By
Stephen A. Moses
Jul 08, 2024
Senior living’s caregiving sectors — nursing homes, assisted living and home care — share problems and needs in varying degrees. But what they get from long-term care (LTC) research is seldom what...
Getting your steps in
By
Gary Tetz
May 30, 2024
I and most other humans I know are obsessed with steps, and not just of the 12 variety. We wear tracking devices 24/7, like an entire society under house arrest, and monitor step counts with religious...
16 strategies for integrating CNAs into care planning and IDT meetings
By
Aasha Raval
Feb 16, 2024
Given their day-to-day, intimate interaction with residents, certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are uniquely positioned to contribute to care planning and interdisciplinary care team (IDT) meetings, where...
The coming cicada invasion. Can the MDS compete?
By
Joel VanEaton
Feb 20, 2024
I am constantly reminded how the complexities of nature astound me. Recently, I became aware of the impending cicada invasion that will happen this year in various regions of the United States. According...
Falling by the wayside
By
Steven Levenson
Oct 24, 2023
This month’s column invokes several previous columns, one about medications and the other about knowing if we know what we don’t know. A recent medical journal article concluded that falls in...