Scooped once but the next COVID-19 bombshell could be theirs
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 17, 2021
Hypotheses about the value of COVID-19 vaccinations for long-term care staff could be blown out of the water soon.
It’s time to put up or shut up on vaccine mandates
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 20, 2021
Will Wednesday’s White House announcement that COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandated for nursing home employees be a dealbreaker? It depends.
Oh where, oh where have the annual surveys gone?
By
Jessica Curtis
Jul 16, 2021
During the height of the pandemic, annual surveys of skilled nursing facilities understandably skidded to a stop. Flash forward to August 2020, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services directed...
‘Keep it simple’ is just not in our nature
By
Steven Littlehale
Jun 28, 2021
I asked all the leadership at New Choice Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to bring me their department-specific resident assessment tools. They were to leave them on my desk by 5 p.m. When I returned...
It’s time to be a team player and place public safety first
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Jun 18, 2021
Recent legislative activity in Ohio just highlights the public’s and the government’s fickle view of long-term care in our country.
Biden Medicare regulations favor hospitals over skilled nursing facilities
By
Lisa Grabert
Jun 02, 2021
On an annual basis, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updates various payment systems within the Traditional (fee-for-service) Medicare program. This regulatory season is more entertaining than...
The ABCs of documenting CPT
By
Renee Kinder
May 06, 2021
It’s that time of year again when the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel meets with the task of ensuring its codes remain up to date.
Provider payment adjustments coming — this time without the indictments
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 30, 2021
Could it be that federal regulators and the caregivers they oversee are becoming more civil to one another?
Spring cleaning 2021: Will your rehab team pass the white-glove review?
By
Renee Kinder
Apr 22, 2021
Spring is in the air. Time to open the doors, let some fresh air in, and clean above, under and between every surface in our homes. Spring is a season that allows my obsessive cleaning habits to become...
The coming crackdown: COVID-19 and beyond
By
Karen Christian
Matthew Hittle
Apr 21, 2021
For more than a year, America’s nursing homes have been besieged by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has tragically claimed the lives of more than 130,000 residents and 1,600 staff. While America’s nursing...