June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. What is your facility doing to boost recognition?
What is missing from Five Star?
By
Ilene Warner-Maron, Ph.D., RN-BC, NHA
Mar 07, 2016
The rating system has gone through additional changes recently with the addition of psychotropic medications for short and long-stay admissions as an additional quality indicator.
Here’s how you can effectively schedule rehab
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Nov 14, 2011
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented its latest rounds of new and stricter regulations, the groan was heard throughout nursing homes across the country. But, I have good news:...
9 reasons why it’s better to congregate than disperse short-term rehab residents
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Aug 28, 2018
In most of my long-term care career, I’ve witnessed short-term rehabilitation residents housed together. But not always. I don’t know the reasoning behind dispersing residents, but from my...
Why is it so easy to ignore Medicare improper payments?
By
Kristin Walter
Oct 28, 2015
Recovery auditors corrected more than $2.57 billion in improper payments for FY 2014 – representing 5% of the $46 billion in wasted taxpayer dollars the program lost in a comparable period to fraud,...
No more Rehab Medium RUG defaults
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Oct 08, 2013
Well, Oct. 1 has passed, and we’re all still hanging in. The biggest changes we saw to rehab were the addition of reporting co-treatment minutes on our billing logs and Section O on the MDS. And,...
You need to calm down …
By
Renee Kinder
Sep 12, 2019
Friday evenings in our house have a general theme as we transition into the weekend.
Future of Medicaid: What keeps me up at night
By
Kimberly Townsend
Apr 17, 2019
Loretto will continue to advocate against cuts to Medicaid, but also will persist to innovate our care and diversify our programs to keep up with the increasing demands of our future older adult populations.
Bad news about bad news
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 25, 2013
Imagine if CNN, the most trusted name in news, decided to report on the disappearance of a bottle of window cleaner from a nursing home supply closet. We would first be told it was really several gallons...
F-Tag 309 on Quality of Care: Are we prepared?
By
Susan LaGrange
Mar 22, 2013
Have you reviewed end-of-life care plans with your staff? The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently made changes to the surveyor guidance for End of Life in Appendix PP of the SOM. This was...