Most for-profit nursing home industry administrators receive a staffing budget based on finances, not acuity or clinical need. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ final minimum staffing...
Standing up for PALTC specialists
By
Michael Wasserman
Rajeev Kumar, M.D.
Jul 10, 2024
Nursing home medical directors, by federal regulation (Section 483.70 (h)), are responsible for coordinating the medical care of highly complex individuals who reside in these facilities. The recent...
The geriatrics approach to care
By
Michael Wasserman
Jun 12, 2024
My focus on the importance of the medical director in improving nursing home quality occasionally gets pushback from family members who have had negative experiences with doctors in nursing homes. Those...
It’s time for care solutions, not excuses
By
Michael Wasserman
Jan 09, 2023
In February 2019, I wrote about the importance of fully engaging geriatricians and certified medical directors in the operations of nursing homes and chains. A month later, I shared my concern about a...
Moving nursing homes forward: The future is now
By
Michael Wasserman
Oct 26, 2020
On March 11, I wrote about the COVID-19 storm rapidly approaching our nursing homes, and particularly the risk of nursing home staff transmitting the virus to residents. On March 15, I pointed out the...
Honoring the fallen
By
Michael Wasserman
May 08, 2024
It’s been more than four years since the onset of the tragic pandemic that took the lives of nearly a quarter million vulnerable older adults living in nursing homes. Their lives mattered. How they spent...
The Einstein option — a real staffing no-brainer
By
Michael Wasserman
Mar 13, 2024
In January, I wrote about the importance of adequate nursing home staffing levels. As a geriatrician who has worked in nursing homes for nearly 40 years, I can attest to the importance of the incredible...
It takes a leadership team
By
Michael Wasserman
Jun 10, 2019
There needs to be a clear commitment to the concept of the leadership team.
Moving the needle in nursing home vaccination rates
By
Michael Wasserman
Leslie Eber
Feb 14, 2024
On February 29, 2020, the first Coronavirus nursing home outbreak was reported by the media. Experts in geriatric and long-term care medicine immediately understood the dangers to nursing home residents....
It’s time for full transparency
By
Michael Wasserman
Jan 13, 2021
I threw down the gauntlet for the nursing home industry to focus on clinical care two years ago. I warned that in the spring of 2020, providers would “start to hurt because the cost of caring...