A somber day in Kansas City, Mo.: A wandering senior is found dead and an entire nursing home is evacuated at two senior living facilities. Read More »
Three-week-old strike by unionized Connecticut nursing home workers continues. SNF operator alleges sabotage and vandalism by strikers. Company attorneys' seek criminal investigation by state authorities. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ controversial Five-Star Quality Rating System, which rates the nation’s nursing homes, is in the news this week with CMS unveiling its revamped Nursing Home Compare website. Since its introduction in 2008, the rating system has been maligned by LTC providers for its perceived faults and omissions. Read More »
The new version of CMS' Nursing Home Compare website now includes data on readmission rates, nursing home inspections and antipsychotic drug use. Read More »
It was a large group of states with GOP governors whose challenge of the ACA led to the Supreme Court’s ruling, and many of them have either decided, or reportedly may decide, to forgo the additional federal payments that would come from expanding Medicaid eligibility in their states. Read More »
Renovating existing facilities entails much more than a new coat of paint. Miles Girouard and Amy Ruedinger, RN, discuss the strategies involved in upgrading the physical environment and the care culture at the same time. Read More »
GPO membership gives facilities a boost to their bottom lines as two GPO executives explain. From office supplies to clinical products to furniture and more, GPOs are the best deal in town. Read More »
Senior living designers have yet to recognize that boomers entering communities will demand the same resources in senior living just as they have upped the ante by demanding restaurant style dining, fitness centers, spas and coffee shops. Read More »
Infusions of antibodies seem to help those with mild to moderate Alzheimer's to retain cognition and daily functions, according to a study presented at the 2012 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. Read More »
LeadingAge has started a financial and legal advice service for its not-for-profit members. Struggling facilities can request an assessment and receive advice from experts for free. Read More »
Bold colors, modern artwork, sleek lines…this isn’t your grandmother’s nursing home. Long-term care owners and administrators have heard it before but it bears repeating. Today’s seniors, more active and engaged in mainstream culture than any other generation before them, appreciate good design. Read More »
State reform to limit medical liability claims and facility-based arbitration agreements can have huge impacts on long-term care’s finances, notes a study by ACHA/NCAL and Aon Global Risk Consulting. Read More »
According to a recent study, one in every six admissions to nursing homes was for individuals who had a history of emphysema or COPD. This puts greater pressure on LTC facilities to gain a stronger understanding of the disease and to meet new demands in terms of assessment and treatment. Read More »
One group cheering the court’s decision is the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA), which maintains that upholding of the healthcare act will result in earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease—with care thereby starting sooner—while helping millions with more effective and efficient treatment. Read More »
With the crackdown on “pill mills” in Ohio, nursing homes have become targets for employee theft of narcotic prescription drugs. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine intensifies anti-drug abuse efforts. Read More »
Major efforts are needed to increase the mental health workforce and train them in the mental health and substance abuse issues that relate to seniors, a new Institutes of Medicine report warns. Read More »
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections remain at historically high levels whereas most other types of healthcare-associated infections are declining. The CDC recommends that healthcare clinicians and facility administrators implement the following six prevention steps into their facilities’ infection control plan. Read More »
A stunning 99 percent of nursing home records examined by the OIG failed to meet one or more of the federal guidelines for assessing and documenting the use of antipsychotic drugs. Read More »
Identifying a project manager, or owner’s representative, to lead the project team is becoming a vital factor in accomplishing an integrated approach to the LTC building process. Read More »
Where a consumer lives plays a large role in his or her financial planning for long-term care. Costs from the nursing home through the home care categories vary greatly, according to a national study. Read More »
As of July 1, 89 new accountable care organizations (ACOs) began serving 1.2 million people with Medicare in 40 states and Washington, D.C., the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today. Read More »
While trying to save on prescription costs, seniors in the Medicare Part D doughnut hole are skipping or reducing their maintenance medications for depression, chronic heart failure and diabetes, among other chronic conditions, recent data suggests. Read More »
Innovative planning can allow traditional senior living spaces to be transformed into neighborhoods of shared spaces and private spaces, encouraging interaction and fostering memory care. Architect James Moyer describes the before and after designs. Read More »
High doses of vitamin D play a role in preventing bone fractures, especially in older women, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read More »
The Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and technology company Jvion have developed an online tool to help facilities calculate the financial impacts of migrating to ICD-10. Read More »
Pressure ulcers are painful and dangerous for residents and costly for facilities. Next year, PUs are going to cost facilities even more. Learn how to improve wound care intervention to protect your patients and manage risk. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed policy changes that would increase reimbursement rates for end-stage renal disease services. Performance data collected next year would affect the payment rates starting in 2015. Read More »
Fire, flood, tornado, earthquake and tidal waves are just a few of the ways nature asserts itself to remind us of its power. Are you prepared to care and protect your residents if you get in Mother Nature’s way? The OIG doesn’t think so according to a recent study. Read More »
