March 2011 Issue of McKnight's Long Term Care News
March 2011
News
Providers not happy with Medicaid shift
President Obama's $3.7 trillion budget plan for the next year makes concessions to a new political reality: Republicans control the House of Representatives.
Critics: Union flavor is undermining NLRB
Anti-business sentiment permeates a federal board tasked with mediating disputes between workers and their bosses, industry groups recently insisted.
Providers don't want to see a reduction in Medicaid tax
Why is the field uniformly opposed to a provision in President Obama's budget plan that lowers the amount states could tax providers by $18.4 billion? ...
Features
5th Online Expo features major LTC topics
Expanded McKnight's virtual trade show offers five free CEUs, exhibits, more
60 Seconds with...
60 Seconds with... Mark Parkinson, President, CEO, AHCA/NCAL
Mark Parkinson, President, CEO, AHCA/NCAL
Ask the care expert
Could 'consistent assignment' help my nursing home?
Sherrie Dornberger, RNC, CDONA, FACDONA, President, NADONA
Resident care
Study: Blood pressure meds and antibiotics a risky combo
Older adults who take blood pressure drugs called calcium channel blockers may experience severe drops in blood pressure if also given antibiotics such as erythromycin ...
Society issues new guidelines for MRSA
The Infectious Diseases Society of America recently issued its first set of comprehensive guidelines for treating methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Ask the treatment expert
Wound care
Suppression of immune cell as treatment shows promise
Researchers have found what they hope is a promising approach to treating diabetic wounds, pressure ulcers and other slow-to-heal wounds.
Big wound treatment in a small package
An inexpensive nanometer-sized drug that can treat foot ulcers and other chronic wounds has been developed by a group of scientists from the Hebrew University ...
Ask the nursing expert
Nursing
Traffic noise can increase the chance of stroke, study shows
Exposure to loud traffic noise can increase the risk of stroke in people over the age of 65, according to new study results. Danish researchers ...
AGS issues fall prevention guidelines
Interventions to prevent falls among the elderly should include an exercise component, according to new fall prevention guidelines from the American Geriatrics Society and the ...
Ask the payment expert
Why so many A's in our RUG-IV categories?
Patricia Boyer, MSM, NHA, RN, President, Boyer & Associates, LLC
Payment & policy
Top court to decide if states can cut Medicaid payments
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a controversial case that could allow states to significantly reduce Medicaid payments to long-term care ...
Medicaid rules under fire
As budget shortfalls continue to hammer states, many governors have begun to explore the possibility of dropping Medicaid patients from state rolls through the use ...
Ask the legal expert
Legal Matters
Agencies sue over Medicare therapy reimbursements
A Medicare reimbursement policy that some say denies chronically ill patients needed therapy services has recently come under fire in federal court. Five national organizations ...
NLRB threatens suit over union ballots
The National Labor Relations Board is threatening to sue four states over constitutional amendments that guarantee workers can use secret ballots in union elections.
Design
Design Decisions: Racing to the future of care
Sam Swope Masonic Homes of Kentucky combines the state's culture and evolving care models while quadrupling facility size.
Couldn't live without
"I couldn't live without...The Best Friends Book of Alzheimer's Activities
When an individual develops symptoms of Alzheimer's or other types of dementia, the disease affects everyone with whom that person interacts.
The big picture
A unique perspective
Michael Hargrave watches the eldercare field from a unique vantage point. He does it as the leader of NIC MAP. That's shorthand for the National ...
Editor’s desk
Editor's Desk: Don't appear too happy about hospice prosperity
When it comes to running a business, you better evolve. If you don't, trouble will surely find you. Maybe it will even if you do.
