May 01, 2013
These are the initial posts of the popular new McKnights.com blog "The World According to Dr. El." See more from her at McKnights.com.
March 20, 2013
The seventh annual McKnight's Online Expo begins today. The event kicks off with five CE-approved webcasts today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday). Webcast topics include finding capital, wound care, handling Immediate Jeopardy issues, MDS 3.0 and the use of computer avatars in the long-term care setting.
March 19, 2013
The best "prime" opportunity for long-term care professionals to learn the latest information about many of the top issues in long-term care is at hand. Prime? Two days. Five free webcasts. Seven years running for the annual McKnight's Online Expo. Appropriately, there are a lot of prime numbers associated with this year's event, which already has shattered all previous registration record.
March 18, 2013
No travel is required to take part in the seventh annual McKnight's Online Expo, which starts Wednesday. Simply register for free online and join the expo from the comfort of your own computer.
March 14, 2013
Each week brings more examples of nursing homes fined for Immediate Jeopardy citations. The latest high-profile cases have involved pressure sore care and a resident engaging in inappropriate touching, showing how broadly providers have to look to create effective policies around Immediate Jeopardy.
March 08, 2013
I sat in morning report as the nursing supervisor announced the arrival of a new resident. An 80-year old woman was taken to the hospital after a fall at home, where she received a below-knee amputation and contracted C. diff before being transferred to our facility. I looked around the room and speculated about what each of my team members were thinking, imagining thought bubbles over their heads.
The seventh annual McKnight's Online Expo will kick off with five CE-approved webcasts on March 20 and 21. Expo participants can also take advantage of the online exhibition hall to connect with vendors and get insight into the latest products.
September 04, 2012
The MDS 3.0 now plays central payment role in long-term care. But new rules and regulations are constantly emerging — and the stakes for providers have never been higher. An informative, live, one-hour webcast will help sort things out on Sept. 11. Leading the presentation will be Leah Klusch, RN, BSN, FACHA, executive director of The Alliance Training Center. Participants on the day of the webcast can earn continuing education credit, which also comes at no cost.
July 18, 2012
How do we handle the growing numbers of things we're already supposed to know, i.e. electronic health records, MDS 3.0, etc., and the even larger number of things we don't know yet that we don't yet know? I think I know.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released reports tackling value-based purchasing for skilled nursing facilities, MDS frequency and goals for nursing homes.
July 11, 2012
Nursing home administrators who can't substantiate every minute of rehab therapy delivered in their building leave themselves open to increasingly common audits and surveys, a top MDS 3.0 expert said Tuesday.
May 16, 2012
I recently asked a hospital discharge planner how she chooses which nursing home to discharge to. "Five-Star" was the reply. Was I surprised? Not at all. Once again, it demonstrates just how far this Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services consumer initiative reaches.
The functional status and behavior sections of the MDS 3.0 often lead to risk and liability dangers for providers, a long-term care coding expert said Sunday.
Failure to keep up with the changes could be costly for providers, experts warned, so CMS released a memo to clarify a number of questions from skilled nursing facility operators.
Nursing homes have heard the warnings and been advised at every turn lately. Now, it's time to do it right, or risk losing out on reimbursements. Significant changes have been made to the new MDS 3.0 form go into effect Sunday. After then, ignorance of new provisions will start costing providers, experts warn. Discharge procedures, as well as resident interviews, are two of the top areas with the most notable changes. Providers have been advised to simply get new RAI manuals if they can, rather than to try to incorporate the multitude of revised or new pages.
March 26, 2012
Are you properly capturing set-up time? What on Earth am I talking about? I'm talking about utilizing the regulation as outlined in the Resident Assessment Instrument, version MDS 3.0.
March 21, 2012
If skilled nursing facilities are not prepared for the MDS 3.0 changes that will go into effect April 1, 2012, the consequences could be expensive, a top expert warned Wednesday.
March 21, 2012
A record-breaking number of participants have signed up for the 6th Annual McKnight's Online Expo, the largest online trade show for the long-term care community.
More registrants than ever are prepping for the fifth annual McKnight's Online Expo, which kicks off Wednesday and Thursday at a keyboard near you.
March 07, 2012
It was a long first day, but there was tremendous value and everyone who is here has learned what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' positions are with the April updates and some of the policy changes they're talking about. The changes are thought provoking and some are what I would consider on the edge of being a little controversial.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host a pair of two-day MDS 3.0 Conferences for providers next week in St. Louis. The initial session (Tuesday-Wednesday) filled so quickly, regulators wound up creating a second session, which will be held Thursday and Friday. Federal regulators will analyze the most recent changes in the MDS 3.0 assessment tool — including those to be instituted in April and those that went into effect last October.
The next federal "Open Door Forum" for skilled nursing and long-term care operators takes place at 1 p.m. Thursday. Regulators say they hope to address MDS 3.0, billing, website and ENCORE issues. The monthly hour-long calls are hosted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are open to all interested stakeholders. Those who want to listen in or ask a question should dial (800) 837-1935 and give reference number 27269788. Officials recommend calling in about 15 minutes early in order to ensure hearing the start of the session.
February 17, 2012
At first, the MDS 3.0 Quality Measures do not appear to be very different from those based on MDS 2.0. But "the devil is in the details" and nearly every measure that seems familiar is different in some way. One of the most significant changes is in the resident and record selection.
Medicare's recovery audit contractors (RAC) program recovered $398 million in overpayments in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, according to a government report.
January 30, 2012
Length-of-stay — LOS — is one of those management reports that often leaves administrators and upper management bewildered. If you increase LOS, you essentially increase your census.
November 29, 2011
Back in Philadelphia, I was a hospital executive who moonlighted as a musician and singer in bands, casinos and nightclubs. When I tired of the band scene, I was looking for an outlet for my musical talents and that is when I discovered performing in long-term care facilities, something I do to this day.
October 28, 2011
You are not required to offer therapy services on weekends under new MDS 3.0 changes instituted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But you do have to be careful if you don't.
October 25, 2011
Overall job satisfaction has dropped among long-term care workers, and MDS 3.0 assessments are taking longer to complete than MDS 2.0, results of a new survey reveal.
Officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be hosting a monthly Skilled Nursing/LTC Open Door Forum a week from Thursday (Oct. 20) — not on Oct. 13, as originally announced. It promises to be anything but a run-of-the-mill provider conference call.
October 06, 2011
Nursing home administrators must be absolutely certain their billing department staff and MDS coordinators are up to speed on the newly implemented PPS rules for therapy. That is one of the central messages that came through at a special McKnight's webcast Oct. 5 that focused on changes to MDS 3.0 and nursing home payment systems. A rebroadcast of the extremely popular hourlong session is attainable in the mcknights.com archive. Interested individuals simply must re-enter the sign-in environment or complete the free registration for the first time.
