The Joint Commission recently unveiled a Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Accreditation program. The program — which replaces its Long Term Care Accreditation program — is designed to help providers achieve, maintain and demonstrate excellence.
January 02, 2013
Well, we didn't completely go off the "fiscal cliff," but we're definitely heading for a downward slope.
November 19, 2012
I recently had the opportunity to speak at the China Healthcare Sourcing Summit in Hangzhou, China. It was a remarkable experience and really helped me gain a wider perspective of healthcare delivery around the world. Access to healthcare, hospitals, doctors, and especially rehabilitation services is a primary concern for the Chinese government.
September 10, 2012
Recovery audit contractors are stepping up their efforts to review Medicare billings. This appears to be a classic case of auditors gone wild.
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.
July 09, 2012
I love my grandma dearly. She's still going strong, living independently in a ranch-style house. But while her stubbornness may be the reason she lives such full and active lifestyle, it's also a trait that almost cost her big-time when she had a "health scare" a few years ago.
July 02, 2012
Nursing home administrators who can't back up every minute of rehab therapy delivered in their building leave themselves open to auditing, warns an MDS 3.0 expert during the July 10 McKnight's Super Tuesday webcast. Every skilled nursing facility billing minutes to rehab services must be able to verify that he or she has read all of the updates to the RAI Manual, as well as all of the changes that took effect April 1, adds Leah Klusch, RN, BSN, FACHA. That and much more was discussed during the free webcast, which remains available for viewing in an online archive for a year.
An experimental "socially assistive" robot has been shown to get better results in elderly rehabilitation patients than human therapists, preliminary research finds.
March 05, 2012
Ready to take the therapy services quiz? The good news is that it only has one question and it's multiple choice. But you don't want to fail. Ready?
February 22, 2012
As a manager, I used to love to promote point-of-service, or POS. As a therapist, I used to despise POS. How could I have such a love-hate relationship with POS?
February 22, 2012
As a manager, I used to love to promote point-of-service, or POS. As a therapist, I used to despise POS. How could I have such a love-hate relationship with POS?
February 21, 2012
Discharge planning is the key element in managing Medicare Part A length of stay. A home assessment can significantly affect the process.
December 08, 2011
It's that time of year again, the when our hospitals and nursing facilities start to fill up with patients suffering from new fractures, falls, pneumonia and other cardio-pulmonary diseases. However, have we ever thought to provide additional therapy services to our residents (and their family members) who plan to go out for the holidays?
December 02, 2011
Medical necessity has become a common phrase in healthcare terminology, but what exactly does it mean? Unfortunately, this term has become very subjective and is the primary reason we have been denied payment for services.
Another proposed rehab rule threatens to cut significant revenues from long-term care providers.
August 10, 2009
The federal government is looking closely at how post-acute providers, such as skilled nursing facilities, spend Medicare dollars. SNFs should know their operations and understand real outcomes before their next audit.
A recent Canadian study finds that methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and C. difficile can be transferred between long-term care residents and therapy dogs, opening a new possible avenue for infection.
Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) this week released several policy ideas for revamping America's healthcare delivery system. Many of these would affect the long-term care and post-acute care fields.
Cautioning elderly people from attempting to do too much physically is actually counterproductive, researchers suggest. They say that many seniors who worry about their health or possible negative outcomes from exercising instead choose to remain inactive, therefore causing greater potential harm later in life.
Seniors who perform simple ankle and foot exercises a few times per week can noticeably improve their strength and balance, according to recent research.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is drawing praise from the long-term care community for introducing a bill that would eliminate spending caps on rehabilitation services for Medicare beneficiaries.
Seniors discharged from hospital rehabilitation facilities with new activity of daily living (ADL) disabilities have a greater chance of dying within a year as those discharged without additional disabilities, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University.
Nursing home providers would be wise to pump money into information technology to create more efficient, profitable businesses, panelists asserted Tuesday at a CEO round table discussion at the annual meeting of the National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL) in Nashville.
Seniors in more impoverished areas of the country are significantly more likely to die after surgery than their wealthier neighbors, according to recent research.
September 11, 2008
Hospitalizations for osteoarthritis more than doubled from 1993 to 2006, according to an analysis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
September 08, 2008
Excessive daytime sleeping among seniors undergoing rehabilitation treatment actually hinders their recovery--even up to three months after discharge--according to new research.
August 27, 2008
The Office of the Inspector General has issued a report claiming that the Medicare payment error rate for durable medical equipment in 2006 was significantly higher than the 7.5% rate claimed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
August 11, 2008
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a regulation Friday that reduces the 75% Rule pertaining to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) to 60%.
August 08, 2008
Increasingly, nursing homes are illegally turning out residents to help their bottom lines, according to an analysis in The Wall Street Journal.
August 04, 2008
Last week's decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to halt its planned $770 million cuts in Medicare Part A payments to nursing homes for fiscal year 2009 drew loud praise from the long-term care sector.
