August 2014 35 8 Issue of McKnight's Long Term Care News
Top news stories from the August 2014 issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News.
News
Harkin: Divert funds from SNF settings
Medicaid funds would more easily flow toward people wanting home- and community-based services — and away from nursing homes — under a new bill unveiled ...
AL supply up, SNFs in decline
Nursing home inventory is continuing its slow but steady downward trajectory, according to quarterly data released in July by the National Investment Center for the ...
Heading toward a single payer?
Providers should expect to be paid exclusively through managed care systems by 2025, a former White House adviser said in July.
Congress grills top judge on appeals jam backlog
There is no easy fix to the staggering backlog of Medicare appeals, a government official said during a July 10 Congressional hearing.
Feds: Tie ACO ratings to SNFs
Accountable care organizations should be assessed on which patients bounce back to a member hospital within 30 days of being discharged to a skilled nursing ...
Most residents are incontinent
More than 75% of long-term residents are incontinent, as well as nearly half (46%) of short-term residents, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Gardens can ease dementia
Gardens in nursing homes can help patients with dementia, new research indicates.
Nursing home refused to let worker wear hijab, EEOC says
An Alabama nursing home faces a lawsuit for allegedly refusing to allow a Muslim employee to wear a hijab.
Nursing home population tumbles 20%
The number of Americans 65 or older residing in a nursing home fell from 1.6 million to 1.3 million during the decade ending in 2010, ...
State News
State News for August 2014
KANSAS — The state no longer will publicly release survey results for nursing homes going through the informal dispute resolution process, the Department for Aging ...
Features
Rehab settings in flux
Providers are establishing therapy rooted in person-centered care, including activities that help cognitive functioning, balance, memory and awareness
Beyond surface cleaning
Providers use room turnover as an opportunity to eliminate sometimes deadly bugs by layering basic cleaning with next-generation solvents and technology
60 Seconds with...
60 seconds with ... Avalere Health Director Brian Fuller
Q: The government is notifying new participants in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative. Do you expect more post-acute providers in this latest round?
Ask the care expert
Ask the pain expert ... about evaluating pain
We use the numeric pain scale in our skilled care facility, but many of our residents can't communicate well. Is there another suggestion?
Resident care
1 in 3 knee surgeries in the U.S. may be 'inappropriate'
Nearly one-third of knee replacement surgeries in the U.S. may be classified as "inappropriate," Virginia researchers found in a new study.
Study: IV feeding guidelines need revision
Current guidelines for intravenous feeding may need revisions to prevent bloodstream infections more effectively, a new study suggests.
Ask the treatment expert
Ask the treatment expert ... about wound healing myths
Did your mom or grandmother ever tell you to leave a wound open so it could get air?
Wound care
Some pressure ulcers can't be avoided, guidance says
Some pressure ulcers are unavoidable, according to updated guidance from wound care experts.
Wound case to end with a $280M deal
Kinetic Concepts Inc. will make $280 million in payments over three years to Wake Forest University Health Services in a legal settlement.
Ask the nursing expert
Ask the nursing expert ... about managing across generations
How can I navigate the many variables I'm faced with — age, gender, culture, education levels — to put a quality team together?
Nursing
Advancing Excellence now embraces nurses in policy
Nurses' efforts to be leaders in a national effort to improve long-term care showed how they can attain greater influence over healthcare policy, according to ...
Survey: Nurses under dangerous stress
A lack of necessary authority and problems with management are contributing to nurses' high levels of stress, according to recently released survey results.
Ask the payment expert
Ask the payment expert ... about Medicare audit guidelines
What guidelines should we use for a Medicare audit?
Payment & policy
Better anti-fraud efforts are not appeasing lawmakers
Long-term care facilities and other Medicare providers increasingly have seen reimbursements influenced by the government's Fraud Prevention System, an official recently told a Congressional panel.
Hospitals: Change SNF pay
The government should adopt Medicare payment policies that better support hospital-based skilled nursing facilities, the American Hospital Association urged in a recent letter to a ...
Ask the legal expert
Ask the legal expert ... about preserving census
Our senior resident community is under financial distress. What major things should we do to preserve census?
Legal Matters
Pre-hire medical exams and screenings broke law: judge
A provider who conducted pre-employment medical exams and screenings acted illegally, even when it hired some of the individuals, a federal judge has ruled.
Kindred named in class-action lawsuit
Kindred Healthcare plans to "vigorously" fight a lawsuit filed by some California employees alleging failure to pay minimum wage and overtime, and restricting break times, ...
Design
A building in the 'LEED'
Benchmark's new community has a high-end beach house vibe and eco-friendly features that put it on the cutting edge of senior care
How to do it…
How to do it ... Resident security
Resident security touches the job of every person in a long-term care environment. Facility staff are concerned with security. IT people need systems that integrate ...
A day in the life
Brain gym offers mental exercise
Nursing home residents and surrounding community members can break a mental sweat at The Village's new brain gym offered by the University of Florida's Health ...
Couldn't live without
I couldn't live without ... AOD Answers
AOD Answers™ has allowed Cantata Adult Life Services and Business Performance Services to have an electronic health record of their residents and to conduct a ...
Technology
EHR 'solutions' research retains relevance: panelist says
The CIO Consortium & Nurse Executive Council's white paper, "Electronic Health Record Solutions LTPAC Providers Need Today," still has relevance to long-term care providers working ...
ITUpdate for August 2014
» David R. Hunt, M.D., FACS, the medical director of Health IT Adoption and Patient Safety in the Office of the National Coordinator, urged uniform ...
Opinion
Climb every mountain
I'm obsessed by mountains, particularly the ones I'm staring at right now in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. Marvelous, epic monoliths of rock and ice, ...
Company news
Skilled care companies seek site-neutral Medicare rates
Proposed Medicare payment changes have put the nation's skilled care companies at odds with inpatient rehabilitation providers, and the two sides were making strident arguments ...
Hospitalist firm charged
A hospitalist company that works with thousands of facilities is facing federal charges that its clinicians routinely overbilled Medicare and Medicaid, authorities recently announced.
BusinessBriefs for August 2014
» Center Management Group of Flushing, NY, will pay $145 million to purchase five nursing facilities and two senior living communities from the Archdiocese of ...
Vendor news
New incontinence products pushed to nurses, providers
Incontinence management remains a hot commodity in long-term care, with three companies debuting products.
Two medications are approved by FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two medications in June that may benefit long-term care patients.
CompanyBriefs August 2014
» Optimus EMR announced it will include INTERACT 3.0 in upcoming release. The tool will be an embedded part of its Clinical Decision Support Module. ...
The big picture
Supreme indifference
It has been said that we are the residue of our choices. If that's true, what should we make of the Supreme Court these days?
Editor’s desk
Blockbuster productions that you want no part in
With another summer of huge movies nearly behind us, it's a good time for providers to exhale in relief. Or wonder anxiously if they have ...
Profile
Profile: Respecting his elders
Michael D. Gore made great strides professionally this spring, but it also was a season of sadness for the rising long-term care leader. His grandmother ...
