Here’s the good news for providers: new analytics are making it possible to understand and bill your care in ways that would have been impossible just a few years ago. Here’s the bad news:...
Another reason why clinicians shouldn’t underestimate housekeeping staff
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Mar 07, 2013
Each time I visited a restroom during a routine site visit, I noticed a very pretty toilet-paper flower there. It was made of toilet paper and folded into a flower, including the stem. It was then sitting...
OIG? OMG! One lump problem
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 23, 2013
The Office of the Inspector General’s recent report about what it calls $1.5 billion in inappropriate Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities should be yet another wake-up call to providers.
Changing therapy trends spark launch of new company
By
Kristy Wikum
Jan 17, 2013
It’s no secret health care is changing and that we, as professionals, need to be a part of that change to improve the overall system. Part of this improvement involves helping patients quickly return...
Fiscal molehill for rehab providers
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 02, 2013
Well, we didn’t completely go off the “fiscal cliff,” but we’re definitely heading for a downward slope.
Home (safety) for the holidays
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 21, 2012
It’s hard to believe the holidays are already here. As I have frantically baked cookies, mailed holiday cards and waited in long lines for the perfect gift, I couldn’t help but people-watch....
When LTC leaders delegate accountability
By
John O'Connor
Nov 19, 2012
What happens when delegation without accountability takes place? We saw a good example last week, when the Office of Inspector General released a damning report about excessive Medicare charges from nursing...
Top 10 nursing home strategies to avoid hospital admissions
By
Marge Mercury, RN, MS, CMCE
Oct 30, 2012
Hospitalizations of frail nursing home residents can result in higher costs, complications, and death. Fifteen percent of long-term nursing home residents are hospitalized in any given six-month period,...
Are computers overtaking the therapy department?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Oct 18, 2012
Are we being replaced by computers? Most likely the answer is no, but … computers have made our jobs more efficient, right? Right?
The resident’s ‘right to refuse’
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Aug 28, 2012
Therapy services can be a tricky business when working with residents with a history of “behavioral issues.”