The G-codes are here for payment claims — ready or not
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
May 23, 2013
Effective July 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will begin rejecting claims received for Medicare Part B patients that do not include the new requirement of G-coding. That really means providers...
NPWT yields positive results for patients
By
Randall R. Carson
May 06, 2013
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (“NPWT”) is one of the oldest forms of medicinal therapy used to heal the human body. Over the past decade there has been a significant increase in the use of...
Looking to open eyes about ‘observations’
By
James M. Berklan
May 01, 2013
Bully for provider groups pulling out the stops to draw attention to the ludicrous mishandling of “observation stay” designations by many hospitals. One prong of the plan is to have providers...
F-Tag 322 (Feeding Tubes): Are our systems in order?
By
Susan LaGrange
Apr 04, 2013
CMS recently made changes to surveyor guidance on feeding tubes. Nursing homes must look at their policies, documentation and education practices in order to assess whether a feeding tube is appropriate.
Will there be a ‘real’ CMS administrator soon? It’s looking so
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 03, 2013
If you’re a gambling person, it looks like the odds just got a whole lot better for Marilyn Tavenner becoming the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s...
Message from the White House: Don’t trust nursing homes
By
John O'Connor
Mar 08, 2013
Ever wonder how much regard the White House has for long-term care operators? A brief filed last week makes the answer abundantly clear: very little.
Old wine, new bottles: Increased scrutiny for antipsychotic drug use
By
Alan C. Horowitz, Esq., RN
Feb 22, 2013
The landmark legislation known as “OBRA ’87” (the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987) significantly limited the inappropriate use of antipsychotic drug use in long-term care facilities....
Do you know your P’s and Q’s of QAPI?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Feb 21, 2013
The Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement system from CMS is on our doorsteps. As facilities have been training and educating themselves, the new QIS (Quality Indicator Surveys) are ready to roll....
The Smell Test
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 15, 2013
Over in South Korea, precocious robots have been sniffing the air at a few nursing home test sites and neutralizing unwelcome odors. Or at least they were, but now have probably been reassigned to nose...
Don’t get burned! Regulatory updates you need to know
By
Lisa Thomson, LNHA
Jan 02, 2013
As leaders in post-acute care, we need to stay abreast of the regulatory changes and its impact on our operations. In healthcare the one thing that remains consistent is change! Effective December 1, 2012,...