October 2015 36 10 Issue of McKnight's Long Term Care News
October 2015 edition of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
Analysis
Admin pay averages $100K; DONs $86,690
The long-term care sector continues to show signs of steady growth, as modest rises in management salaries this year illustrate.
News
Providers balk at reform bid
LeadingAge gave the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services a long list of concerns with recently proposed regulator's reforms, a lead lobbyist said in an ...
More scrutiny ahead for Five-Star ratings
In a move that top nursing home lobbyists privately hoped wouldn't come to pass, the Government Accountability Office announced in late August it will be ...
SNF occupancy sees a decline
A drop in occupancy rates and an increase in days cash-on-hand are among the findings in CliftonLarsonAllen's 30th Annual Skilled Nursing Facility Cost Comparison Report.
Check memory sooner: group
More than 30% of those over age 70 have memory problems, and a panel of aging experts said this population should have memory and reasoning ...
Thumbs failed in sanitizing
Healthcare workers applying hand sanitizer miss their thumbs 37% of the time, according to new research.
CMS extends model that pays docs more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will extend its initiative to improve care in nursing facilities, the agency announced in late August.
Senior living gets a news outlet
McKnight's recently unveiled a dedicated website just for senior living professionals: McKnightsSeniorLiving.com.
Senators want to know more about nursing home ratings
The Government Accountability Office is becoming well-versed at digging into the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' nursing home ratings system.
Post-acute push saves $411 million: feds
Medicare accountable care organizations saved the federal government more than $411 million in 2014, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Facing the music: Providers learning new moves so they can stay in step with new dance partners
There's no doubt today's long-term care provider must be able to dance with managed care and accountable care organizations. But while many are proving they ...
State News
State News for October 2015
West Virginia — West Virginia has begun requiring a comprehensive background check program for long-term care employees. All skilled nursing providers will be required to ...
Features
A personal choice
Sex, consent and nursing home liability in the age of Alzheimer's can put providers in unfamiliar, uncomfortable and untenable situations — if they aren't prepared
Technology bytes
Working together to streamline electronic prescribing is a 'work in progress' that continues to challenge operators, prescribers and pharmacists to get it right
60 Seconds with...
60 Seconds with Gregory L. Alexander, Professor, University of Missouri
During the McKnight's Fall Expo, you talked about how technology can improve long-term care. How so?
Ask the care expert
Ask the Care Expert about... labeling clean equipment
We are changing the system of how we mark clean equipment in storage and residents' rooms. Currently, we have a plastic bag over the items, ...
Resident care
Minorities skeptical about end-of-life care
Black Medicare beneficiaries are far less likely to accept hospice care or prepare advanced care directives than their white counterparts, according to a new report ...
Ask the treatment expert
Ask the Treatment Expert about... lower extremity problems
What is the lower-extremity problem we're most likely to see?
Wound care
Antimicrobial spray can help reduce pain as wounds heal
Antimicrobial spray may be more useful than traditional dressings in reducing wound pain during healing, a new study has found.
Diabetic foot ulcers higher in rural areas
Diabetic foot ulcers cost the government almost $9 billion each year, and those in rural areas have a higher risk of amputation or death, according ...
Ask the nursing expert
Ask the Nursing Expert about... insulin pens
Our company's regional nurse came to my facility and said we were going to start using insulin pens. Can you tell me what I should ...
Nursing
New nurses on night and OT shifts face higher injury risk
Newly licensed nurses who work overtime and night shifts have an increased risk of occupational injuries, a new study has found.
ANA pushing for universal immunizations
All healthcare workers and nurses should be immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases, the American Nurses Association advised in late August.
Ask the payment expert
Ask the Payment Expert about... bundled payments
Is it true that hospitals may be able to send patients to us following joint replacement surgery without a three-day hospital stay?
Payment & policy
Risky business: Program lets provider sell health insurance
This month, one of the country's largest skilled nursing facility operators will begin offering its Kentucky-based members health insurance.
SNFs embrace bundled pay
Many healthcare providers are willing to accept bundled payments from Medicare well before it's mandated, according to new data from research firm Avalere Health.
Ask the legal expert
Ask the Legal Expert about... surveyor conduct
Surveyors recently were unfair, and rude. They inappropriately threatened my managers with unfounded citations. The next time they come, I want to audiotape or videotape ...
Legal Matters
Safety committee's records not privileged: federal court
A North Carolina nursing home operator can't claim privilege in protecting documents created by its safety committee from discovery, a federal trial court has ruled.
PharMerica, Kindred settle kickback suit
Federal regulators were combing through out-of-court agreements at press time to discern whether settlement terms reached by PharMerica Corp. and Kindred Healthcare would pass regulatory ...
Design
Design Decisions: De-compartmentalizing
Brandel Health & Rehab opens up floor plans to create more space while building a physical and cultural environment of transparency
How to do it…
How to do it... Short-term rehab
Short-term rehab is a burgeoning and profitable business, but it's nothing to enter casually. Attracting and retaining patients and keeping beds continuously filled requires seizing ...
A day in the life
Many encores for 'Musical Man'
When Don Worke was 10 years old, he made a deal that would send him on a musical journey lasting almost 80 years.
Technology
CVS signs telehealth deals, could lead to less face time
In August, pharmacy giant CVS Health announced it will work with three leading telehealth companies — American Well, Teladoc and Doctor on Demand — to ...
I Couldn't Live Without... NxStage System One
MediLodge of Howell is in a small-knit community, and Administrator Matt Cortis knows residents are the voice of that community.
Opinion
Reader Poll: What hidden talent is the most valuable in your department?
McKnight's readers sound off on what"hidden talent they value most.
Conventional wisdom
It's long-term care convention season again. You can feel it in the air. Strange, troublesome urges start to take over.
Resident care
Drugs used to treat dementia can be deadly, report asserts
Several antipsychotics used to control symptoms of dementia increase the risk of patient death more than previously estimated, according to findings published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Company news
TeamHealth pays $1.6 billion to buy IPC, skilled care access
Physician staffing company TeamHealth acquired post-acute care group IPC Healthcare Inc. for $1.6 billion, the companies announced in August.
Ventas done with spin-off
Ventas Inc. announced it has completed the spin-off of the majority of its post-acute and skilled nursing facility portfolio into an independent, publicly traded REIT.
Vendor news
Cardinal Health becomes naviHealth majority owner
Over the past year, Tennessee-based naviHealth, an awardee convener under Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative, has announced partnerships with national nursing home chains ...
Injected cholesterol drug is new option
Residents with high cholesterol have a new choice. On August 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval of a Repatha injection for patients ...
The big picture
Following the money
To really understand what is going on in the wacky world of Medicare therapy billing, here's all you really need to know.
Editor’s desk
Say 'geeze!' — more room cameras are on their way
If you didn't work in long-term care and I asked you to specify what Illinois, Washington, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico have in common, we ...
Profile
Profile: Sharon Colling
While many administrators enter long-term care because of a personal experience, American College of Health Care Administrators interim CEO Sharon Colling's connection is different than ...
