Like many bad habits, the overuse of antipsychotics is not going down without a fight. Still, there are reasons for long-term optimism.
Ready or not: The MDS is changing again!
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Sep 25, 2013
On Oct. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be updating the Minimum Data Set with another round of changes. Most are minor but there will be two changes to the therapy section. Your case-mix...
When two midnights doesn’t equal three days
By
Carol Levine
Sep 23, 2013
Hospital observation stays have been increasing, as have Medicare auditors’ denial of claims related to short inpatient stays on the basis that they should have been counted as observation stays....
What is therapy? It’s not as simple as it might seem
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Aug 13, 2013
“What is therapy?” sounds like a simple question, but it requires a separate and very complex answer for each discipline.
Eliminating the “Black Hole”: Transitions of care
By
Donald Quinn, M.D.
Aug 12, 2013
In the early days of hospitalist medicine, we described the period between hospital discharge and follow-up at the skilled nursing facility, long-term care acute care hospital or a primary care physician...
Progress in trying to undo the hospital ‘observation stay’ mess
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 31, 2013
What is this world coming to? When you complain about bizarre government conditions or regulations, you usually have to assume you’re just whispering into the wind.
CMS not saying much about a payment deal that could be a game changer
By
John O'Connor
Jul 08, 2013
In recent years, many skilled care operators have nervously watched the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduce and sometimes eliminate payments for physical, occupational and speech therapy services....
50 shades of G-coding
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jul 02, 2013
Sorry, ladies, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up with that title. But does anyone else feel like there is a lot of ambiguity to the new G-Coding system? Well, it’s a little too early to tell...
Things heating up in case of the runny eggs
By
John O'Connor
Jun 03, 2013
Looks like CMS and nursing home inspectors have more than a little egg on their face, thanks to a recent circuit court ruling in favor of a wrongly accused operator.
Care plans and discharge planning: Steps for success!
By
Lisa Thomson
May 29, 2013
Let’s take a look at the facility policies and procedures to determine that they include how the facility will ensure that the care plans are developed using resident individualized assessment information,...