Month: June 2012

FCC, medical leaders hold mHealth summit to discuss mobile medical device technology

The Federal Communications Commission met with mobile technology leaders, healthcare agencies, medical device companies and others to hammer out an implementation strategy to push the mHealth industry forward. Read More »

ALFA urges measures to fight ‘pension poaching’

Problems in the VA Aid and Attendance program have created a cottage industry of predators that target vulnerable seniors to convince them that they are entitled to a pension. The senior is then marketed financial products that he or she does not need and might not benefit from. Read More »

Pentecostal moments in long-term care

Can religion add quality to life in advanced age? Can it do so when dementia sets in? Ethnographic evidence, abundantly found in long-term care, speaks of the salutary contribution religion makes in advanced age. Read More »

What’s for dinner? Nothing

In 2012, it's hard to believe that people still go hungry in the United States. When a senior doesn't have enough food or good nutrition, that is a recipe for health complications. Read More »

Innovation clashes with harsh economic reality in LTC design

When a book that addresses architecture and design for an aging population landed on my desk last week, I was eager to review it. However, the ideals it promotes are tempered by current harsh economic realities in the LTC industry. Read More »

AHCA to Congress: Don’t use Medicaid’s provider tax rates to bail out student loans

The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) tell Congress to stop eyeing Medicaid tax rates as rescue funds for student loans. Read More »

Key considerations when transitioning to an eMAR system

With the growing use of electronic data in healthcare to improve quality of care and lower provider costs, more long-term care organizations are making the transition from paper medication administration records (MARs) to electronic medication administration records (eMARs). Read More »

CMS launches data initiative

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services creates the Office of Information Products and Data Analytics as part of a new initiative to collect, analyze and share healthcare information for use in care improvements. Read More »

The number of hospitals that “observe” rather than admit is growing, research shows

New research data shows that many Medicare recipients are prevented from transferring to skilled care based on their hospital admission status. Read More »

The new Community First Choice program: How will it affect LTC providers?

The Obama Administration seems determined to keep patients in their community settings and out of nursing homes for as long as possible. Obviously that will mean fewer admissions to long-term care facilities, so those facilities must be thinking of ways to adapt in order to remain viable. Read More »

An apple a day: Female longevity study linked to fresh foods and exercise

Eat your veggies and take a long walk, especially if you’re a woman over 70. Read More »

When a facility needs to be fixed up

With the Medicare/Medicaid cutbacks to facilities today, I wonder how facilities built from the ’70s through the ’90s will be maintained. I wonder too how the grand looking nursing homes built in the last 10 years will hold up. Read More »

U.S.News & World Report releases list of top nursing homes in California

Among best nursing homes in California, both for-profit and non-profit facilities earn five-star ratings. Read More »

5 team building practices that will make your staff want to stay

When it comes to building a team, forget corporate retreats and singing “Kumbaya” around the campfire. Here are five practical, easy-to-incorporate strategies you can use at your nursing stations starting today. Read More »

HHS funds Aging and Disability Resource Centers

Funds for improved access for consumer information on community services and supports for seniors and others with disabilities is on the horizon. Read More »

UV treatment shows promise in curbing Clostridium difficile infections in LTC environments

Ultraviolet light treatment works better than bleach to control outbreaks of Clostridium difficle infections (CDI) in resident spaces, and UV cleansing technology may be a smart addition to routine housekeeping and infection-prevention measures, researchers find. Read More »