Long-Term Living’s Top 10 articles for 2015

After years of initiative planning and rule-making, 2015 was a year of action—many of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiatives began to take effect and impact the daily business of skilled nursing communities. What else was the industry buzzing about this year?

Here are the top 10 Long-Term Living articles for 2015:

1. CMS proposes massive new rules for LTC industry

2. AHCA/NCAL: New CMS nursing home regulations 'simply too much'

The top two articles come from Capitol Hill—and from our Washington policy writer Bob Gatty. The flood of new CMS proposed regulations for long-term care had everyone talking—including the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), LeadingAge and other associations.

3. Designing memory care

This year, everyone was seeking ways to include memory care services in their service lines—and the words “memory care” in their marketing materials. Pamela Tabar’s cover story on memory care services explores not only why memory care services are a good idea, but how to get it done as a successful business service line within your own facility spaces.

4. 3 changes coming to Nursing Home Compare

5. Reducing falls by tackling incontinence

6. CMS proposes individualized care plan for long-term care patients

Plenty of focus fell on improving care quality and person-centered care plans, and three of our top 10 articles tackled quality initiatives that would improve facility star ratings, reduce falls and improve individualized care.

7. Good news, bad news for jobs in long-term care

8. New overtime rules impact long-term care

Job predictions for direct-care jobs and hourly pay rules garnered plenty of attention, including Tom Ealey’s explanation of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rules for hourly staff and how long-term care facilities can avoid costly mistakes with compliance.

9. MDS assessment accuracy and quality outcome success

Since poor documentation leads to poor reimbursement and deficient surveys, Lisa Hohlbein’s article on MDS coding accuracy rang true with MDS coordinators and administrative executives alike.

10. How to attract volunteers to your community

Rounding out our Top 10 list is Kristina Moritz’ article on how to encourage volunteers to take part in community programs and how to direct their altruism to the most-needed causes while fostering the special relationships that often form among volunteers and residents.

It’s been a great year of innovation, quality improvement and knowledge-sharing—2016 is sure to be even more inspiring!