The pen pals nobody wants: These members of Congress miss the point, again
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 07, 2024
In a week in which Congress appears ready to get down to work on several bills meant to ease workforce issues for struggling nursing homes, some elected leaders would rather create more busy work for some...
A waste of time? Hardly
By
John O'Connor
May 10, 2024
Some might think it unnecessary or perhaps even unfair to honor women for the exceptional work they do in this field. To that, I have a simple question: What rock have you been living under?
Congress as … good guys?
By
James M. Berklan
May 10, 2024
Face it: It’s easy to complain. About the boss, about the weather, about “the system.” And if you toil in long-term care, it’s really easy to fire up a narrowed down complaint list targeting two...
The DOL sure didn’t work overtime on this
By
John O'Connor
Apr 28, 2024
Ever notice how our regulatory agencies seem to keep turning good intentions into lousy directives?
For providers, the time has come to predict, prepare and partner up for the the next big threat
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 10, 2024
BALTIMORE — One of the newest nursing home division staff members at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offered up her best Notradamus impression for providers here Wednesday. No, Lenise Cummings-Vaughn,...
For nursing homes, a dangerous game of chicken
By
James M. Berklan
May 03, 2024
As many have noted, the federal government’s first-ever nursing home staffing mandate can be a very dangerous thing. Just maybe not for the reason that many have been portraying.
Thanks for the, er, help
By
John O'Connor
Mar 25, 2024
The adage about keeping friends close and enemies closer has been variously attributed. Its relevance for long-term care operators is pretty clear.
A Medicare Advantage fix: What took so long?
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 12, 2024
Providers hoping that policy makers might some day show some backbone when dealing with Medicare Advantage plans can take heart. Well, at least a little.
National standardized surveys for nursing homes in the works
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 02, 2015
You kind of get the sense that a government watchdog didn’t want to believe the good numbers coming out of its latest research into nursing home care, so it felt the need to introduce uncertainty.
Four reasons why states need to stop inspecting nursing facilities
By
John O'Connor
Aug 08, 2014
What if every state had its own language, currency and traffic signals? Life could get a lot more complicated once you ventured into another jurisdiction.