Guest Columns

In the sea of chaos, where do you look for the North Star?

By

Martie Moore

Sep 22, 2023

We often feel overwhelmed as issue after issue lays itself at our feet. Many things must be done and concerns addressed in a leader’s day.  Today’s environment in healthcare feels like…

Whose life is it anyway?

By

Jean Wendland Porter

Sep 21, 2023

My family is full of therapists, and most of us work in skilled nursing. My sister, an experienced speech language pathologist, called to commiserate about one of her patients who had difficulty swallowing. …

Three questions to boost nursing home audit readiness

By

Brian Evans

Sep 20, 2023

Nursing home and long-term care operators have already faced a number of key shifts since the beginning of 2023. Consider a recent example from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: an update on…

HHS could open the door for more marijuana use in nursing homes

By

Neville M. Bilimoria

Sep 19, 2023

I have been touting the benefits of medical marijuana for nursing home/senior care residents for many years now.  As a cannabis attorney, as well, I have been immersed in the research and studies,…

How long must U.S. seniors wait for nursing homes to clean up their act? Congress must step in

By

Devin Jopp

Sep 18, 2023

For years the government has sounded the alarm about infection control lapses in nursing homes, a deficiency underscored at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic when many residents of a Kirkland, WA…

Be your own data defender

By

Steven Littlehale

Sep 15, 2023

“Well, it’s clear that you’ve never set foot into a nursing home.” I know you’ve thought that while reading a memo from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or your state agency, taking…

Jimmo v. Sebelius, 10 years later

By

Renee Kinder

Sep 14, 2023

In 2013, the Center for Medicare Advocacy and Vermont Legal Aid, along with additional counsel provided by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, settled a lawsuit with the Medicare program (the named defendant,…

How does longevity impact stability?

By

Julie Thorson

Sep 13, 2023

Outside of the two years when I left for another gig at our local hospital, I’ve been with this organization since 1999. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what that means.  Some good friends…

It’s painful — and there’s no end in sight

By

Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC

Sep 12, 2023

So here I am in Florida. I started having pain in my upper right gastric region. Over the course of three days it was getting really intense. Could my primary care provider squeeze me in? Nope.  So…

Biden’s regulatory Death Star

By

Brendan Williams

Sep 11, 2023

Despite federal data showing that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to massive job losses for nursing and residential care facilities – with the workforce 218,200 workers smaller last month…

How do we know if we know what we don’t know?

By

Steven Levenson

Sep 08, 2023

The amount of knowledge and skill involved in complying with the OBRA regulations is monumental. Every topic, from pressure injury prevention to behavior management, has many tec hnical details and clinical…

A table on the patio

By

Gary Tetz

Sep 07, 2023

Through countless decades, multiple relationships and what feels like dozens of marriages (actually only two, but it’s still early today), this is pretty much the extent of my accrued knowledge: Women…

CATs in the cradle, CAA changes coming soon

By

Joel VanEaton

Sep 05, 2023

Have you listened to the song, “Cats in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin? It’s a folk song written in the early 1970s. If you haven’t heard it, give it a listen. I think you’ll like it. The phrase…

Making sense of two approaches to the skilled nursing quality assurance privilege

By

Mario C. Giannettino

Sep 01, 2023

Skilled nursing facilities are required by law to have quality assessment and assurance committees to maintain and improve safety and quality in their facilities. The documents created and used by the…

Staying the course: Lessons from ponies for upcoming Medicare changes

By

Renee Kinder

Aug 31, 2023

There’s a certain kind of magic when watching eq competitions, especially when it involves someone dear to you. Over the weekend, our daughter, Emmy Grace, took part in her first hunter jumper 2-foot…

From talk to action: Moving forward with nursing home quality improvement

By

Isaac Longobardi

Alice Bonner

Jasmine Travers, Ph.D., R.N.,

Aug 30, 2023

This May, the Senate Special Committee on Aging released a report on the shortcomings of nursing home oversight in the U.S. “Uninspected and Neglected” found that nearly one-third of nursing homes…

Trying to reason with hurricane season

By

Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC

Aug 29, 2023

I’m here in Florida trying to prepare for this hurricane we are supposed to get as I write this. You know, you can do your best to prepare but as you’re scurrying about, knowing it’s hurricane season,…

Patient care-related electrical equipment inspection and maintenance requirements

By

Stan Szpytek

Aug 28, 2023

Skilled nursing facilities are compelled by regulatory compliance to provide residents, staff and visitors with a safe environment of care.  Providers occasionally receive deficiencies for conditions…

Can the past inform the future for leaders?

By

Martie Moore

Aug 25, 2023

It was a lively debate on how much we should look backward to then look forward. I commented that we must look to the past to inform the future. Another person protested that the past is the past. It needed…

New tech for not-so-new people

By

Gary Tetz

Aug 24, 2023

Do you yell at your Apple Watch? I do. All the time. Out loud.  This happens most often while hiking, when I’ve dutifully set the device to track my activity. I’ll be laboring up the trail, trekking…