If you wait to only react to the process, you will have to bite off more than you can chew when the deadlines come.
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...
Providers must see clearly before they CHOW down
By
Richard Cheng
Sep 29, 2014
When a skilled nursing facility changes ownership, the change is known in healthcare vernacular as a change of ownership or “CHOW.” Because this could wind up endangering a Medicare provider...
Reducing seniors’ drug use, one iPod at a time
By
John O'Connor
Mar 28, 2014
For reasons that are understandable yet hard to countenance, antipsychotic drugs are widely used in nursing homes. Too often over-used, according to government statistics. But it’s beginning to look...
iPods coming to an eldercare facility near you
By
Mary Gustafson
Jul 26, 2012
When I first spoke with Music & Memory founder Dan Cohen last year, he had big plans for his new program that would put iPods with personalized playlists in Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients’...
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...
Medicare’s midlife crisis
By
John O'Connor
Aug 03, 2012
The Medicare program just marked its 47th anniversary. Whether that milestone is a cause for celebration or concern is open to debate.
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...
A tisket, a tasket … No LPNs in the RN basket
By
Steven Littlehale
Jul 20, 2015
Reporting direct care hours is nothing new, but the Affordable Care Act takes it to the next level with mandatory quarterly electronic submission of staffing and census data. This focus on staffing ratios...
Practical advice on reducing antipsychotics
By
Jerome Wilborn
May 08, 2015
Two CMS tags —F-Tag 329, which addresses unnecessarily using antipsychotic drugs, and F-Tag 309, which addresses taking steps to reduce antipsychotic drug use — are used by nursing home surveyors to...