Contemporary Long Term Care articles from February 2007

Contemporary Long Term Care archives from February 2007

Pressing matters.(OFF THE TOP)(treating pressure ulcers)
February 1, 2007... A funny thing happened to Mrs. Hobart on the way from the hospital to the nursing home. It might have been that the ambulance ride was extraordinarily bumpy or that the vehicle's shocks were on their last legs. It could have been the...

Diabetics fight blood glucose ruling.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Louise Bailey v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... A class action lawsuit filed on December 15, 2006, alleged that the 2007 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule on blood glucose billing prevents diabetic residents from receiving coverage for blood glucose tests. The defendants in the case...

Medicare Part D to cost less than projected.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... The Bush administration announced in January that Medicare Part D will cost the government $964 billion from 2007 to 2016--which is 10% less than the original estimate of $1.077 trillion, reported The New York Times. The lower price tag has...

Sunrise faces outside investigation.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Services Employees International Union, Sunrise Senior Living Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Sunrise Senior Living, Inc., the nation's second largest operator of assisted living facilities, is facing allegations of insider stock sales, questionable accounting practices, and improbably timed stock option grants, according to a Services...

CMS waives late fee deadline for some Part D enrollees.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Some Medicare Part D beneficiaries received an extension to the December 31 Medicare Part D enrollment cutoff date this year, according to a CMS press release. Almost one million beneficiaries did not receive information regarding coverage...

A busy year for HCPro.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(acquires Bandido Books, HRAI Coding Specialists LLC,National Health Information LLC, QualityCare)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... With five acquisitions in 2006, it proved to be a busy year for HCPro, Inc. HCPro's first acquisition of the year was the purchase of Bandido Books, a well-known publisher of clinical nursing books geared toward staff nurses, nurse managers,...

CMS tweaks unnecessary drugs F-Tags.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services )
February 1, 2007... CMS made even more F-Tag changes in December 2006, resulting in the need for skilled nursing facilities (SNF) and their consultant pharmacists to work on their relationships to comply with the agency's final draft of the unnecessary drugs and...

CMS nixes exceptions process for Part B therapy caps.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 1, 2007... CMS closed out 2006 by releasing two transmittals that will affect skilled nursing facility (SNF) professionals in 2007. On December 29, it released Transmittal 63 and Transmittal 1145, both of which were required to be implemented by January...

The calendar.(Calendar)
February 1, 2007... Conferences March 8-9 American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators National Spring Conference Philadelphia, PA www.aanac.org March 19-21 American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Future of Aging...

Postacute care assessment tool takes flight.(INDUSTRY UPDATE)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 1, 2007... On December 21, 2006, CMS held a special Open Door Forum to introduce and discuss the development of a postacute care (PAC) assessment form and a three-year demonstration project set to begin January 1, 2008. The Deficit Reduction Act of...

Three-in-one for balance.(WHAT'S NEW)
February 1, 2007... Endorphin Corporation introduces the 240 TRI-CORE Balance and Stabilization Multistation. This innovative exercise machine combines three revolutionary products into one space-saving multistation. Included in the TRI-CORE are the Functional...

Manage your meds with MedSelect[R].(WHAT'S NEW)
February 1, 2007... Access to medications--at any hour, at any facility--is now simpler, safer, and more secure. The MedSelect series of automated medication dispensing cabinets enhances medication delivery for your patients. MedSelect cabinets, from...

Mohawk presents landmark carpet solutions.(WHAT'S NEW)
February 1, 2007... Karastan Contract, part of The Mohawk Group, offers the landmark Architectural Grid, a group of three carpet patterns that exquisitely builds on and coordinates with other Mohawk Group collections. Glass, metal, and other structural materials...

AMD packing strips battle bacteria.(WHAT'S NEW)
February 1, 2007... Tyco Healthcare/Kendall announces the latest addition to the AMD franchise, the award-winning Curity[TM] AMD[TM] Packing Strips. The woven gauze packing strips have been impregnated with a highly effective yet safe antiseptic, PHMB. They are...

Data in your pocket from LINTECH.(WHAT'S NEW)
February 1, 2007... LINTECH has released revolutionary touch-screen and Pocket-PC applications, affording easy and friendly data entry to be used by a nursing home's clinical staff for capturing flow sheets. Users take advantage of touch-screen or Pocket-PC...

Briggs adds inpatient forms to hospice system.(WHAT'S NEW)
February 1, 2007... The Briggs Corporation announces the expansion of its Hospice Documentation System, now to include Inpatient Hospice Documentation. With 35 new and revised forms, Briggs documentation now addresses all levels of hospice care, including...

Forecasting fiscal 2007: why the federal market basket increase may mislead you.(INSIDE SCOOP: FINANCIAL MATTERS)
February 1, 2007... When the updated Medicare Part A Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) rates for fiscal year 2007 were issued at the end of July 2006, the only changes were minor adjustments to the wage index. Meanwhile, CMS estimated...

Part D's sophomore slump: what Medicare Part D has in store for long-term care in 2007.(INSIDE SCOOP: LEGISLATION)
February 1, 2007... Open enrollment for the 2007 Medicare Prescription Drug Program was uncertain for some time. Because of additional plan offerings and premium changes, the six weeks of open enrollment forced seniors and disabled beneficiaries to review and...

Hard data: get a handle on your facility database.(CLTC VIEWPOINT)
February 1, 2007... Administrators and corporate operational professionals often ask me where they should place their focus. I tell them, "Focus on the quality of the facility's database!" Your facility database controls the success of your operation,...

Under pressure: why can't SNFs cut pressure ulcer occurance?(skilled nursing facilities)(Cover story)
February 1, 2007... It's been three years since CMS swept through the long-term care industry with F-Tag #314, detailed and complex guidance for the management and prevention of pressure ulcers in skilled nursing facilities. But how much, really, has changed...

What your MDS reports can do for you: learn to extract key data from your reports to drive up quality care.(Minimum Data Set)
February 1, 2007... You know that the Minimum Data Set (MDS) is a key source of information for nursing home professionals. But are you familiar with your MDS reports and what they can tell you about resident census, acuity, and staffing needs to keep you at the...

The Rx for good business: an insider provides best practices for working with your pharmacy.
February 1, 2007... Working with ancillary providers has always been an important issue to nursing homes. Thanks to Part D, it's become even more crucial to partner effectively with your pharmacy provider. January 2006 brought the transition of most of your...

Therapy--shape up or ship out? Weighing in-house vs. contract therapists.
February 1, 2007... To maintain therapy in-house or to contract it out? Depending on the size and focus of your nursing home, each has its advantages and disadvantages. When you're thinking about moving therapy in- or out-of-house, the main variables to...

In this case, contract therapy pays off.
February 1, 2007... At some point, regardless of circumstance, most long-term care facilities face the decision of whether to go in-house for therapy services. After all, look at all the money some nursing homes spend for an outside agency to provide a...

Lift smarter, not harder: avoid injuries when mobilizing your bariatric residents.
February 1, 2007... Has your facility ever turned away a potential bariatric resident because of a lack of equipment? With an increasing number of obese people entering nursing homes, many facilities are forced to deny their admission because the facilities can't...

Better lifting by CAMEL.(PRODUCT INSIGHT)
February 1, 2007... Mangar USA announces the CAMEL (Complete Air Moving Elevating Lift), which provides a revolutionary approach to the problem of lifting someone from the floor. It considerably reduces manual handling risks by first putting the faller into a...

Repositioning Aid.(PRODUCT INSIGHT)
February 1, 2007... VanCare's VERA[TM] is the "Very Efficient Repositioning Aid" preferred by staff and residents. Among VanCare's many lifts, VERA reduces back injuries among nursing staff. In most cases, the resident can be transferred from a seated to a...

D'oh! A deer!(BREAKROOM)(deer enters a nursing home)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Residents of Brittany Manor in Midland, MI, got quite a wake-up call on Tuesday, December 19, 2006, when a deer crash-landed through a window of the nursing home at about 4 a.m. According to The Saginaw News, which first reported the story, no...

By the numbers.(BREAKROOM)(healthcare spending by United States)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... CMS' Office of the Actuary released the following statistics on health spending in the United States through 2005: 3 consecutive years healthcare spending has slowed in the U.S. 6.9% percentage of growth in 2005 (compared to 7.2% in...

10 for the loss column.(BREAKROOM)(finance for nursing homes)(Table)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... 10 FOR THE LOSS COLUMN What will the Medicaid financing picture look like for nursing homes in 2007? According to the national accounting firm BDO Seidman, LLP, headquartered in Chicago, the following 10 states are at the...