“They don’t need rehab, they’re too old!” How many times have we heard or even asked this question? Did you know that Regis Philbin turned 80 on August 25? The Dancing with the...
CMS ‘overpayment’ rule may come at a greater cost
By
Glenn P. Hendrix
May 02, 2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently issued a proposed rule addressing how it will implement the 60-day deadline for returning overpayments made to federal health programs. If fully adopted,...
CMS did more than ‘just’ cut Medicare pay by 11.1%
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Aug 19, 2011
Have you started your COT trending analysis? On Aug. 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the final ruling and commentary for the new implementation of the MDS changes set to take effect...
Paying it forward
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 02, 2014
‘Tis the season to be giving. My cousin shared with me recently that she had her coffee paid for twice in the past week when going through the drive-thru at a Starbucks. I feel that we could all...
Entitlement or over utilization?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Oct 07, 2014
Many of our therapy patients are medically complex and we, unfortunately, are not able to predict the future, as it sometimes seems that regulators want us to do.
Do your residents have a ‘sexy style’?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jul 29, 2014
I recently read an article entitled, “J.Lo’s sense of sexy style.” It really made me think about the nursing home resident’s role with this type of thinking.
The power of words
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Mar 25, 2014
“The pen is mightier than the sword” is an age-old adage that implies that the power of communication — in this case, written communication — is more powerful than a physical weapon. Do...
Defining tolerance in therapy
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Feb 12, 2014
How do you define tolerance? Is tolerance measurable? Is tolerance too subjective? What about activity tolerance? We love to document how patients are improving activity tolerance, but many times that’s...
Therapy patients need, and deserve, this simple self-image booster
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 14, 2014
Have you ever had a day when you looked great but felt depressed? Or you looked your worst but felt great? Perception of self-image is stronger than actual self-image with determining our emotions. Would...
Personal stories every therapist should know
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 17, 2013
What’s the point of all of our treatment interventions and plans of care if we can’t relate to our patients? If you can put a face and personality behind your justification for therapy services,...