The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has just rolled out its latest version of Nursing Home Compare. If your facility garnered five stars, you probably love it. If you received one star, you surely...
A note from SNFs to hospitals: Stay away from Misfit Island
By
John O'Connor
Jul 25, 2016
Hospitals need to toughen up. Their impending new five-star rating system isn’t going to be the end of the world (at least, not for most of them). But if the experience of skilled nursing homes is...
A no-brainer plan for Medicare and Medicaid
By
John O'Connor
Dec 11, 2017
But for those of you who think outrageous political trickery is dead, please let me point you in the direction of Capitol Hill. For we appear to be in the midst of one of the better con jobs to come along...
Sorry, that’s not the full recipe for fixing nursing homes
By
John O'Connor
Jun 04, 2012
The Atlantic’s recent article called ‘How to Fix Nursing Homes’ is a well-written and thoughtful piece. My only gripe is that the headline is a bit of a reach.
Why your future will be a numbers game
By
John O'Connor
Jul 02, 2012
In the looming world of acute-care partnerships, warm and fuzzy imagery is going to take a back seat to cold, hard data. So if you’re feeling like a number now, just wait.
Nursing home operators need more than regulatory relief
By
John O'Connor
May 28, 2018
You would think the skilled care field would be doing a happy dance these days.
Making the numbers work
By
John O'Connor
Jan 13, 2012
I prefer not to think of myself as an angry person who gets annoyed by every little thing. I’m much more comfortable seeing myself as an angry person who gets annoyed by little things with the power...
Sure you want to go there? Litigation more perilous in some areas than others
By
John O'Connor
Oct 17, 2016
We might soon start to see the emergence of a divestiture trend based less on undesirable holdings and more on undesirable locales. The obvious choices will be cities and states with a plaintiff-friendly...
Medicaid hypocrisy 2.0, or the art of not giving credit where it’s due
By
John O'Connor
Feb 28, 2014
Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican governor taking more Medicaid funding.
Maybe we can’t handle the truth
By
John O'Connor
Jun 15, 2012
The Supreme Court has decided that corporations and unions are really no different from regular folk when it comes to sponsoring elections. As a result, we’re about to see a spending spree that would...