Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would require employers to make reasonable job modifications for pregnant women. The lawmakers were motivated in part by the case of Victoria Serednyj, a nursing home activity director who lost her job while pregnant.
May 15, 2013
Medicare rates for physician visits to nursing homes should be frozen for 10 years as the government replaces the Sustainable Growth Rate system, a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission official advised the Senate Finance Committee.
May 13, 2013
The House of Representatives has passed the "Working Families Flexibility Act." The bill, H.R. 1406, would allow employers to offer paid time off in place of overtime pay, and has put healthcare providers at odds with workers' unions.
May 01, 2013
A recipe for a complicated nursing home renovation: Take one facility that hasn't been updated in 45 years, add a strict budget and keep residents on site throughout the project. Columbia Health Care Center in Wyocena, WI, recently completed exactly this type of complex renovation. The 124-bed facility, located about 30 miles north of Madison, had not been significantly renovated since opening in 1966. The facility needed upgrades for compliance and to enhance quality of life elements, such as adding more dining areas and private bathrooms.
May 01, 2013
Activities Director Pat Roza didn't go to a big box store to replace the tattered American flag at the 62-bed Elant at Wappingers Falls nursing home in Wappingers Falls, NY. Instead, she called her congressman, U.S. Rep Sean Patrick Maloney (D).
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will change some nursing home survey procedures in response to budget cuts from sequestration, according to memos released Tuesday. The CMS Survey & Certification budget has been reduced 5% from 2012, the agency announced.
April 10, 2013
The cost of long-term care continues to rise, according to the 10th annual Cost of Care Survey from insurance company Genworth. The median annual cost of a private nursing home room reached $83,950 this year, up 3.6% from 2012, the report showed.
Nursing home residents in chronic pain may benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), according to new guidelines on managing pain in older people.
April 01, 2013
It seems like every time I see a news item about arbitration agreements being signed by a resident/patient's surrogate or relative, some judges rules it invalid or unenforceable. Are they ever valid? Must we always get the resident/patient to sign for himself or herself, or is that just strongly recommended?
Even if county nursing home workers provide poor care, the county is not liable unless the employees are executing an official policy, a federal judge in Pennsylvania recently ruled, providing a victory for county-operated nursing homes.
The maker of a device used to protect fragile hip joints in nursing home residents failed to raise sufficient evidence to justify a trade disparagement claim against the author of an unfavorable article, a state high court ruled March 13.
Long-term care facilities will have to notify the federal government, state survey agencies, state long-term care ombudsmen, residents and residents' legal representatives at least 60 days in advance of any closure, under a final rule issued Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The facilities will also have to provide a relocation plan for residents.
Mayo Clinic and Select Medical recently announced the formation of Allevant Solutions. The firm's goal is to improve healthcare services in nursing homes and hospitals that are located in rural areas.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently began promoting nursing home dining practice recommendations that stress resident choice and urge providers to use caution with restricted diets.
An Alabama nursing home that did not properly handle a resident with pressure sores on her feet is on the hook for Immediate Jeopardy fines of nearly $135,000, a federal appeals court recently affirmed.
Seniors in nursing homes are at greatest risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in the winter months, while children are at greatest risk during the summer, according to a recently released study.
March 01, 2013
With funding and philosophical challenges permeating their day-to-day operations, a dwindling number of county-run nursing homes find themselves at a perilous crossroads
The U.S. Supreme Court may again weigh in on arbitration agreements in nursing homes. Nursing home company SSC Odin Operating Co. recently filed a writ of certiorari asking the nation's highest court to resolve a question on the matter.
About 600 nursing home workers in Connecticut will return to their jobs after an eight-month strike, but they still haven't resolved their differences with operator HealthBridge Management.
A federal jury recently assessed penalties of $28.1 million against the former owner of an Illinois nursing home on charges that include Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
Health information technology helps nursing homes coordinate care and protect resident privacy, according to a leading researcher on the issue. Nursing homes without technology may rely on more creative ways to communicate that create privacy problems, such as posting photos or written notices, he says.
Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (CA-MRSA) was discovered in nearly 91% of nursing homes tested in a recent study.
February 06, 2013
The news flashed across my screen and immediately I said to myself, "This type of headline could be very bad for nursing home operators ... or maybe just kind of bad."
February 01, 2013
It's no wonder you, as a long-term care provider, might get fed up with the general media. Sometimes it has to seem that mass media journalists must sit around the office, wondering what they can do to score flash points with editors, plaintiff lawyers and talk shows.
An Oklahoma provider is appealing after it was slapped with Immediate Jeopardy citations and $168,000 in fines for housing inmates injured in a prison riot.
Some Korean nursing home residents recently welcomed a newly developed robot that can deodorize the air after detecting the scent of soiled diapers.
A 150-person negotiating committee representing nearly 7,000 Pennsylvania nursing home workers met on Tuesday with representatives of major operators such as Golden Living, Genesis HealthCare, Reliant Senior Care, Guardian Elder Care and Extendicare to begin working out new union contracts.
January 15, 2013
Some healthcare workers have lost their jobs for refusing the flu vaccine, sparking controversy as the 2013 flu season officially reached epidemic status.
A woman who wore a clown mask while robbing a West Virginia nursing home last May faces 10 years in federal prison.
