$10 million therapy-provider kickback case may proceed, judge says
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 20, 2013
A False Claims Act lawsuit involving a nursing home chain and therapy providers in Missouri can move forward, a federal judge has ruled. The case originated when a whistleblower alleged that a therapy...
Gold-medal intern wins fans
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 01, 2013
Fairhaven Manor’s Amy Kotterman wasn’t sure her incoming graduate student intern was the Katie Smith until receiving an unusual voicemail. Smith called to say she would miss a day of her upcoming...
Laws and policies in focus next week for LTC therapy and ancillary services providers
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 08, 2013
A keynote address by Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, will highlight opening day of the annual winter Legislative and Regulatory Conference of the...
Upon further review
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 02, 2013
Instead of spending more time doing hands-on patient care, therapists who work with Medicare beneficiaries have been strapped with increased administrative tasks, sometimes leading to delayed services,...
Ask the payment expert … about inaccurate MDS therapy information
By
Patricia Boyer
Feb 01, 2013
What happens if my therapy company makes an error on the MDS and as a result, a change of therapy was missed? Are we still responsible?
OIG? OMG! One lump problem
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 23, 2013
The Office of the Inspector General’s recent report about what it calls $1.5 billion in inappropriate Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities should be yet another wake-up call to providers.
Changing therapy trends spark launch of new company
By
Kristy Wikum
Jan 17, 2013
It’s no secret health care is changing and that we, as professionals, need to be a part of that change to improve the overall system. Part of this improvement involves helping patients quickly return...
Home (safety) for the holidays
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 21, 2012
It’s hard to believe the holidays are already here. As I have frantically baked cookies, mailed holiday cards and waited in long lines for the perfect gift, I couldn’t help but people-watch....
When LTC leaders delegate accountability
By
John O'Connor
Nov 19, 2012
What happens when delegation without accountability takes place? We saw a good example last week, when the Office of Inspector General released a damning report about excessive Medicare charges from nursing...
Top 10 nursing home strategies to avoid hospital admissions
By
Marge Mercury, RN, MS, CMCE
Oct 30, 2012
Hospitalizations of frail nursing home residents can result in higher costs, complications, and death. Fifteen percent of long-term nursing home residents are hospitalized in any given six-month period,...