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Briefings on Long-Term Care

Issue 4, April 1, 2004

• Keep in tune with depression diagnoses

  Walking through your facility every day, greeting residents or stopping by during resident...

• BLTCR Q&A

  Editor's note: This month's column was written by Julian Rich, president and chief executive...

Issue 12, December 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Watch out for the top OSHA citation

  If the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) knocks on your facility's door...

• Don't become a bullseye: Know the OIG's targets

  Skilled nursing facilities (SNF) received their yearly wakeup call from the Office of Inspector...

• Avoid illegal gift-giving without being a Scrooge

  Over the past year, your skilled nursing facility (SNF) has dealt with some fabulous referring...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Julian Rich, president and CEO of Penacook Place Nursing and...

Issue 11, November 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Boost Medicare profitability and sail on to financial success

  It's not hard to keep busy as an administrator. Regulatory changes, staffing shortages, and soaring...

• Structure your restorative nursing program for reimbursement success

  Editor's note: This is the final article of a three-part series on restorative nursing. See part...

• Little-known facts about 'abbreviated' accreditation

  Have you ever thought about accreditation? Sure you have. In fact, approximately 2,000 of you are...

• Embrace a corporate compliance culture-or face stiffer penalties

  In the four-and-a-half years since the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its Final...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Kitt Wakeley, MHA, CNHA, senior consultant with the Pinnacle...

Issue 10, October 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Turn restorative care into revenue

  Editor's note: This is part two of a three-part series on restorative nursing. See part one in your...

• Can outsourced billing save money?

  If billing at your skilled nursing facility (SNF) is becoming too much to handle in-house...

• Safeguard your facility from accident-related survey deficiencies

  It's hard to predict exactly what surveyors will be looking at when they visit your skilled nursing...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Julian Rich, president and CEO of Penacook Place Nursing and...

Issue 9, September 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• What you can learn from DAVE: How to audit tricky MDS areas

  Since the national rollout of CMS' Data Assessment and Verification (DAVE) project in January...

• Take a look at restorative care

  Editor's note: This is part one of a three-part series on restorative nursing. Stay tuned to BLTCR...

• Get back to fire safety basics to keep your staff prepared

  In the wake of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in July that criticized...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Kitt Wakeley, MHA, CNHA, senior consultant with the Pinnacle...

Issue 8, August 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• New overtime regulations may change how you pay your staff

  As you're getting ready to distribute your employees' paychecks this month, you may want to take a...

• Use nonphysician practitioners to boost SNF residents' care

  If your staff have ever had difficulty reaching a resident's physician or the facility's medical...

• An administrator's guide to career development

  There's an industry buzz that suggests career development opportunities keep staff interested in...

• Tailor your fall-prevention program to fit residents with dementia

  Reducing falls for residents with cognitive impairments involves different approaches than doing so...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Julian Rich, president and chief executive officer of Penacook...

Issue 7, July 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Know what DAVE surveyors want before they ask-or knock

  Since its national rollout in January, CMS' Data Assessment and Verification (DAVE) project has...

• Set the gold standard for elopement response with Code Silver

  You may think your facility takes sufficient steps to keep residents safe and accounted for: Maybe...

• Take a lesson in activity planning from 'Meadowood University'

  National Nursing Home Week kicked off May 9, prompting long-term care facilities across the country...

• What in the world of CMS . . .

  CMS answered skilled nursing facilities' (SNF) burning questions about billing and reimbursement...

Issue 6, June 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Start top-down to build a resident safety program from the ground up

  You've just started a new administrator position. It's only your first week, and already you've...

• Survey monitor: How one nursing home survived five surveys

  It's natural for staff to be a little jumpy when surveyors enter the building. But how would your...

• Assess pressure ulcer risk with quality indicator analysis

  How much can pressure ulcers cost your facility? The answer could be in the millions. One Texas...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Julian Rich, president and chief executive officer of Penacook...

Issue 5, May 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Eleven ways to improve resident dining without breaking your budget

  Three times a day residents congregate in the dining room for meals. This is the highlight of the...

• Cure infection control problems with increased surveillance

  As with any quality improvement program, infection control isn't going to work unless someone's...

• Surveyors give MT facility thumbs-up

  After a particularly harrowing survey experience in 2003, staff at Pondera Medical Center in...

Issue 4, April 1, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Think like surveyors: Know what's on CMS' top 10 deficiencies list

  Knowing what to expect at survey time is half the battle to avoid deficiencies in your nursing...

• Montessorian techniques offer new approach to dementia care

  Consider an alternate approach to dementia care that effectively engages dementia residents...

• Avoid the heat: Clean up your facility's kitchen habits

  No matter how hot it gets in your facility's kitchen-and you know how closely surveyors scrutinize...

Issue 3, March 3, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Keep medication mishaps out of your self-administration program

  Medication handling is not only a frequent hot spot for surveyors, but it also ranked in the top...

• DAVE zeroes in on MDS mistakes

  For some time now, nursing home leaders have been aware of CMS' Data Assessment and Verification...

• Avoid privacy violations and survey citations

  Now that the compliance date for the HIPAA privacy standards is almost a year behind you, you've...

• What in the world of CMS . . .

  To educate nursing homes about the enhanced set of quality measures (QMs) released January 22, CMS...

Issue 2, February 4, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Tips for staff to battle fatigue

  As staffing shortages abound in nursing homes, long-term care professionals often find themselves...

• Big dreams add new dimension of care

  Have you ever asked your residents what activities they would enjoy if they had more choices than...

• Best practices protocols bring success

  Pennsylvania's quality improvement organization (QIO) isn't the only group focused on improving the...

• JCAHO: SNFs need to boost infection control

  To show you just how serious the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations...

• BLTCR Q&A

  Editor's note: This month's column was written by Julian Rich, president and chief executive...

Issue 1, January 6, 2004 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Watch out for troublesome claims

  Editor's note: Here is the second of a two-part series look at risk assessment and liability. See...

• Keep your SNF clean and clear with 2000 LSC compliance

  Nursing homes have a lot to mull over as they switch from the 1985 to the 2000 edition of the Life...

• Strengthened infection control standards from JCAHO address growing concern

  It may have seemed like nagging when your mom or dad constantly asked, "Did you wash your...

• BLTCR Q&A

  This month's column was written by Kitt Wakeley, MHA, CNHA, senior consultant with the Pinnacle...