Nursing homes’ new mission: Fitting into accountable care organizations
By
Anthony Cirillo
Nov 03, 2010
To survive in the not-so-distant future, nursing homes will have to find a role within accountable care organizations.
What’s the buzz? The unpleasant sound of alarms in long-term care facilities
By
Diana Waugh
Oct 20, 2010
Nursing homes may have cut down on their use of restraints, but they continue to use alarms, which are just as harmful to residents’ well-being.
The glitch
By
Liza Berger
Oct 19, 2010
It’s amazing what some lines of computer code can do. In the case of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, it threw off the workings of the new MDS 3.0 system.
What MDS 3.0 will mean for nursing home providers
By
Liza Berger
Oct 01, 2010
So, it’s finally here. MDS 3.0, the updated resident assessment tool, has officially taken effect. So how exactly will this highly anticipated system change the way you, nursing home providers, operate?...
Congress improves its writing skills
By
Liza Berger
Sep 29, 2010
It sounds like a set-up for a punch line. The Senate this week passed the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Plain Writing Act? So what do we have now? Inscrutable, government-speak?
Protect yourself against Olmstead
By
Robert K. Neiman
Sep 15, 2010
The Olmstead decision—that governments provide housing to vulnerable populations in the lease restrictive environments—has led to several class-action lawsuits. Here are ways to guard your residents...
Residents need flu and pneumo- coccal vaccine
By
Dr. William Hall, Dr. Susan J. Rehm and Dr. William Schaffner
Aug 17, 2010
You don’t want to mess around with pneumococcal bacteria, which causes pneumonia, and even worse, sepsis and meningitis. That’s why nursing home residents should receive two vaccinations: the...
House needs to pass Medicaid legislation for nursing home residents
By
Alice Zahnow
Aug 09, 2010
Medicaid funding cuts threaten the quality of life nursing home residents deserve.
If Ivy Bean can master Twitter, so can we
By
Liza Berger
Aug 03, 2010
Did anyone else get a kick out of last week’s story about Ivy Bean, the Twitter user who died at the age of 104?
Who knew? Repeal of RUG-IV delay in bill one day and out the next
By
Liza Berger
Jul 26, 2010
When crafting legislation, horse trades are a well-established part of the ritual. What’s unfortunate is that many people who have a stake in these deals don’t know about them.