Bob Gatty The hits from Washington keep coming for the LTC industry, already reeling from a series of Medicare and Medicaid cuts, and now facing Read More »
Judah L. Ronch, PhD The ancestors of the modern nursing home were the almshouses of the colonial era. Over time, settings for the care of the Read More »
The warnings have been well reported up to this point. Unfortunately, providers have little say in the matters of Medicaid and the transformations Read More »
I searched on Google for images of the word “overwhelmed” and you can only imagine what I saw. In truth, I thought I would see a picture of a Read More »
Donald Berwick wants you to forget about the current strife in Washington and get back to the basics: “better health, better care, lower costs”—the Read More »
Like thousands of other long-term care industry providers, educators, advocates, vendors (and journalists) making final preparations to attend this Read More »
Three recent developments indicate sharp scrutiny being placed on the home health industry. Stemming from Congress, the courts and the Office of Read More »
Bob Gatty Business organizations, including representatives of the long-term care industry, have mobilized to fight a proposed new regulation from Read More »
A recurring theme at the recent AHCA (American Health Care Association) national conference was the need for skilled nursing providers to be Read More »
A bill introduced last month by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), titled the “Nursing Home Resident Pain Relief Act of 2011,” requires major revisions if it Read More »
October 1st is looming. That dreaded date, what with its Medicare cuts, is causing facilities to scramble and evaluate budget savings and other Read More »
Rat Pack tribute? Check. Cheesy Elvis impersonator? Check. Scantily clad showgirls? But of course. It’s conference week in Las Vegas for the Read More »
Medicaid is in transition—many would say crisis—and skilled nursing providers attending a panel discussion Monday at the 62nd Annual AHCA/NCAL Read More »
The final SNF PPS rule for FY2012 published in August will cause all operational professionals to stop and think about their implementation plans for Read More »
The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living announced the recipients of the organizations’ 2011 National Quality Read More »
Wow, we are closing in on one year of using the MDS 3.0 and are finally getting the “hang of it” with all the changes that occurred with its Read More »
Janet Gerber, RN-BC Mathematically, I have always “assumed” that if you were dividing a whole into “quarters” that would mean you would have four Read More »
Bob Gatty The long-term care industry is now facing an 11.1 percent Medicare payment reduction to SNFs for 2012 in new rates to be implemented Read More »
October 1, 2011, is the day that an 11.1 percent reduction in Medicare payments to SNFs is implemented. It’s when we really begin feeling the pain. Read More »
Judah L. Ronch, PhD In a recent draft report on the work of The Food and Dining Clinical Standards Task Force, (convened by the Pioneer Network Read More »
Everyone needs a good sounding board. For many nurses, that forum is oftentimes a listserv. In commemoration of last year's big MDS package, Read More »
Facility staff empathizes with the pain and discomfort of the resident with incontinence, but they frequently do not have the opportunity to discuss Read More »
This time last year skilled nursing facilities across the nation were in the throes of gearing up for the implementation of MDS 3.0 in October. Read More »
St. Charles, Missouri, was the site of the 2011 annual convention for the Pioneer Network. This was the fourth Pioneer event I have attended; I had Read More »
At the end of July, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the “Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Read More »
Directed by provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the new health reform law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched a Read More »
The heat is on both literally and figuratively as we move into the height of summer. Healthcare providers have sweated out weeks of speculation over Read More »
Flooding, tornados, hurricanes, fires and terrorism—we live in volatile times in a volatile world. As I traveled last week to the annual National Read More »
