Kindred Healthcare has succeeded in its quest to acquire Gentiva Health Services. The companies announced Thursday morning they would combine to create the fourth-biggest healthcare provider of any type...
It’s no time for providers to stick their heads in the sand
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 11, 2012
Some things I believe and some things I know. And I believe I know there is nothing more important for long-term care providers to do than getting better prepared for an intensified push to decrease rehospitalization...
It’s time to tune in to National Skilled Nursing Care Week
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 15, 2024
Preparations to observe National Skilled Nursing Care Week are fully underway for the May 12-18 observance. The theme is “Radiant Memories — A Tribute to the Golden Age of Radio.”
Lawmakers go to bat for providers over backlogged Medicare appeals
By
James M. Berklan
May 22, 2014
Angry lawmakers ripped an overwhelmed Medicare appeals process that has wilted under a tenfold increase in audits recently. Federal officials from two key agencies agreed that the Medicare’s Recovery...
Editor’s Desk: Staffing lawsuits in the West are ominous signs
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 01, 2010
Those rumblings you might have felt recently from the West Coast had nothing to do with earthquakes. They’re the stuff of potential nightmares if you’re a nursing home operator.
CMS memo: ‘Dramatic staff losses’ not happening due to vax requirements
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 02, 2022
Declaring once again that “Vaccine requirements work,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure on Tuesday urged healthcare facility administrators to increase...
Editor’s Desk: A proposal that could hit you like an (I)MAC truck
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 01, 2009
We can forgive providers if they sense a bit of vertigo coming on. When legislators look to give back power, up truly must seem like down and down seem like up.
Where did 2012 go? It’s really quite simple to see
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 01, 2012
By the time December rolls around, it’s safe to say many thoughts are toward finishing the year on a high note. Or for pragmatists and forward-thinkers, setting up strongly for the flip of the calendar...
Move over nursing homes, you have company
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 09, 2019
Welcome to the club. That’s the sad but apropos message I have for our hospice-operating friends.
Psychologists ‘outraged’ over federal plan they say omits seniors
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 15, 2014
Mental healthcare providers for the elderly expressed anger Thursday over an apparent snub of seniors mental health services in a proposed new federal behavioral health plan.