My father died a little over a year ago. While I usually derive tremendous comfort and support by sharing both happy and sad milestones with friends, family, and colleagues, in this instance, sharing the...
‘Love hurts’ and sometimes so do averages
By
Steven Littlehale
Jul 23, 2018
Averages can help or hinder your evaluation of performance. Adding a few additional pieces of data can really support your efforts to properly see opportunity and manage risk.
Setting up for MDS 3.0 success
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 06, 2023
Are you a “New Year’s resolution” kind of person? I am not, but I am a strong believer in establishing goals and setting intentions. Whether you prefer to make a resolution or set a goal, January...
Will you pass CMS’s new schizophrenia MDS audits?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 31, 2023
In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started focused on-site surveys to address the issue of erroneous coding of schizophrenia in nursing homes. More recently, the agency began conducting...
Supporting the unpaid caregiver through the virtuous circle
By
Steven Littlehale
Nov 12, 2021
It seems inevitable. You are likely among the 53 million people in the United States who are unpaid caregivers for a loved one. If not, you may soon join their ranks. This unpaid and frequently unplanned...
Beyond ‘document, document document’ — Risk mitigation strategies that work
By
Steven Littlehale
Feb 03, 2023
We encounter risk every day. Risk is present in the most innocuous actions, like crossing the street, walking into the supermarket, and even eating dinner. And as nursing home operators and providers well...
Quality improvement, by the numbers
By
Steven Littlehale
Feb 16, 2012
Organization-wide quality improvement is a top priority of savvy, resident-centric long-term care operators – and its value and importance has become even more magnified in light of the Centers for...
Carnac the Magnificent psychically divines your most despised quality Measure
By
Steven Littlehale
Oct 16, 2020
Busy yourselves with the excellent suggestions provided by other top-performing SNFs around the country.
Let’s talk turkey about early PDPM trends
By
Steven Littlehale
Nov 26, 2019
We’re not even two months in, and some very interesting trends for the Patient Driven Payment Model are beginning to emerge.
Sorting out the antipsychotic quality measures
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 05, 2013
While antipsychotic measurements can vary, providers must carefully and thoroughly examine all antipsychotic medication use in their facility.