Mistakes and “near misses” can and will happen. But, how a facility discloses an error can affect everything from the CMS response to the family’s reaction. Read More »
Residents have a right to visitors, but SNFs must maintain safety and the rights of others. Long-Term Living's Legal expert Alan C. Horowitz shares some complicated cases and offers intervention strategies from chief medical directors. Read More »
Legal advertisements that aim to exploit nursing homes often hit way below the belt, and nursing homes have the right to challenge them. Legal expert Alan C. Horowitz, JD, RN, explains what nursing homes can do to fight back against misleading and deceptive legal advertisements. Read More »
Avoiding legal issues with improper resident transfers takes close examination of the reason why transfers are needed and all the right documentation. Read More »
Where there's smoke.... If you allow your residents to light up, don’t get burned by your safety policies. Long-Term Living's legal expert Alan C. Horowitz explains CMS rules on resident smoking and shares strategies for safe smoking policies. Read More »
Side rails may sound like a great safety tool, but unless the use of side rails is properly assessed and documented, their usage can pose great risks to residents and the facility. Read More »
Can a resident with dementia provide true consent for sexual intimacy? Can an intimate relationship, even between spouses, ever be considered abuse? Answer: It depends. Read More »
Negligence has specific legal definitions—and personal injury lawyers love to muddy them. Long-Term Living legal blogger Alan C. Horowitz, RN, JD, explains what nursing homes can do to protect themselves. Read More »
How well does your nursing staff know your facility's protocols on charting? Legal expert Alan C. Horowitz explains why poor documentation can be a risk to both resident care and liability. Read More »
More personal alarm-based safety devices for aren't always better—for the residents or the organization. The wrong strategy can make bed and chair alarms a liability instead of a protection. Read More »
Making use of newer guidance and data from the government, as well as improving communication with other entities and perfecting a person-centered approach to care, should be priorities for clinical and operational leaders in long-term care, according to the executive director of an educational foundation and consultancy. Read More »
A clear social media policy can help employers and employees meet their legal obligations to one another as well as to residents. See where others have fallen short, and get tips for success in your organization. Read More »
Administering CPR can be a life-saver or a violation of a resident's rights, explains Long-Term Living legal expert Alan C. Horowitz, JD, RN. Does your staff know what to do if an emergency occurs? Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is cracking down on unused money collected from civil money penalties. Long-Term Living legal expert Alan C. Horowitz explains how your facility can get its next worthy project paid for by the fund. Read More »
Sex in a nursing home? Yes--and as long as both parties are able to choose, it's their right. But, is your staff properly trained to handle other situations that could arise, especially with residents who may have cognition deficiencies? Read More »
A nursing home's medical director bears the greatest ultimate responsibility for ensuring that residents receive quality care. Find out what is required of facilities when it comes to this position. Read More »
Deficiencies and enforcement actions don't always have to be accepted without a challenge. Long-Term Living's legal expert, Alan Horowitz, explains the steps to appealing state survey deficiency reports. Read More »
The Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights gets a stern dressing down from the OIG for failure to provide proper oversight on HIPAA security issues. Read More »
The Office of Inspector General wants hospitalization rates to be added to CMS's nursing home quality rankings. But will the numbers tell the real story or just muddy the waters? Read More »
Healthcare attorney Alan C. Horowitz explains the background to the latest revisions to the CMS compliance rules on fire sprinklers in skilled nursing facilities. Read More »
Were the residents' eggs served runny or undercooked? Ambiguity in language convinces an Appeals Court to reverse a noncompliance ruling in a recent case where CMS had accused a nursing home of poor food preparation. Read More »
On August 13, 2008, CMS published a final rule requiring all long-term care facilities to have automatic sprinkler systems installed throughout the facility. The deadline for compliance with the new regulatory requirement is August 13, 2013. On February 7, CMS issued a proposed rule that would extend the August 13, 2013 deadline. Read More »
The use of psychotropic drugs in long-term care is a significant issue that every facility deals with. This article examines a highly unusual case and also suggests what nursing facilities can expect from government regulators. Read More »
Skilled nursing facilities should carefully consider what constitutes legitimate quality assurance or otherwise privileged documents and how best to protect those documents. Read More »
