Providers have been put on alert that a specific sugar added to hundreds of foods could fuel outbreaks of Clostridium difficile. Trehalose is a naturally occurring sugar used an additive for taste and shelf-stability, scientists report in the journal Nature. Easily and cheaply extracted from corn starch, it helps feed certain strains of C. diff.…
Providers and Medicare Part B beneficiaries were hoping for a reprieve at press time from therapy caps that kicked into full effect when Congress failed to repeal them or extend a broad exceptions process by Jan. 1.
Influenza hit most of the United States by early January, government officials said. ‘‘This is the first year we have had the entire continental US be the same color on the graph, meaning there is widespread activity in all of the continental US at this point,” said Dan Jernigan, director of the influenza division at…
Providers have long struggled with offering telehealth due to reimbursement limitations. But the landscape is changing.
Nursing home critics are driving for deeper investigation into how operators “reward” themselves with lucrative self-dealing contracts while allegedly keeping staffing levels low.
How low can it go? That’s a question many operators are ask- ing in the wake of a report by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care that reveals declining census numbers.
Anxiety symptoms that increase over time have been linked to elevated amyloid beta levels and the early signs of Alzheimer’s, according to Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers.
Visiting the emergency room can signal the beginning of serious health challenges for an older person even when he or she is not admitted, researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine contend.
At press time, President Trump’s State of the Union message was shaping up as one that long-term care operators would fondly remember. The White House has embarked on a pro-business agenda that tar- gets taxes and regulatory oversight. A debt plan passed in December will address the former by trim- ming corporate tax rates from…
For years I have referred to the State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix P for guidance on the survey process. But the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced that Appendix P will be archived and not updated with the new survey process instructions. Where is the most relevant documentation that explains the new survey regulations and process?
