State’s push for patient safety leads to tussle over emergency planning rules, consequences
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 22, 2022
State officials are pursuing new state regulations to protect nursing home residents from scenarios such as the one that contributed to 15 resident deaths after they evacuated to a warehouse during Hurricane...
Christmas vacation or no, these ‘gifts’ kept on coming
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 05, 2022
There’s a pit of desperation of sorts that normally envelops most journalists around holiday periods. With few folks working in government or corporate offices, important decisions and developments sometimes...
‘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...
All the data points to … you tell me
By
Steven Littlehale
Jun 22, 2018
Returning from an early morning walk down to the harbor of this sleepy Cape Cod town, it’s hard not to feel hopeful. My geriatric pups Melvin and Theodore couldn’t get enough of the sea smells...
Nursing home operators need more than regulatory relief
By
John O'Connor
May 28, 2018
You would think the skilled care field would be doing a happy dance these days.
Is it the docs’ turn to get stoned?
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 25, 2018
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services brought out its equivalent of a brass band and confetti machine Tuesday to tout a new provider payment strategy. One could almost hear strains of “Happy...
These 3 won’t happen
By
John O'Connor
Feb 08, 2018
There’s nothing quite like a new calendar to get media types acting like story forecasters. What might be more helpful is a brief list of things that won’t be taking place.
Three things that won’t happen in long-term care during 2018
By
John O'Connor
Jan 08, 2018
Last week I offered three fearless predictions for the year ahead in long-term care. So without further ado, here are three predictions every long-term care operator can count on. As in, count on NOT to...
Promising signs on the regulatory front
By
John O'Connor
Oct 16, 2017
President Trump is no fan of regulations, and long-term care operators have more than their fair share to contend with. So it’s a welcome breeze when Trump says he wants to start eliminating some...
Why nursing homes won’t be catching many breaks this year
By
John O'Connor
Feb 03, 2014
When you talk to experts in this field about the year ahead, an unsettling pattern soon emerges. Almost everyone seems fairly confident that regulators will be taking a much closer look at operators.