Angie's Blog

HealthCap® USA

Angie Szumlinski, NHA, RN-BC, RAC-CT and BS

Director of Risk Management

Angie SzumlinskiMs. Szumlinski is a nationally-recognized leader in long-term care with experience as an Owner/Provider, Administrator, Director of Nursing, Corporate Quality Assurance Coordinator and independent consultant. Ms. Szumlinski conducts risk management visits at facilities across the country, touching every acuity level within the post-acute care spectrum. Ms. Szumlinski served as an Associated Board Member for NCAL, is a member of the AHCA/NCAL Quality Committee, NCAL Risk Management Committee, HCAM Legal/Clinical Committee and is a Senior Examiner/Team Leader for the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program. Ms. Szumlinski is a Nurse Planner for the HealthCap® ANCC accredited education program.

PDPM and you

Impact of PDPM on Skilled Therapy

Angie Szumlinski Compliance, News

With the implementation of PDPM in SNFs, questions, concerns and job security are being discussed by skilled therapists and rightfully so! In this article from AOTA, PDPM concerns are discussed along with responses to questions regarding facility operations/protocols. Using PDPM as the “reason” for downsizing your therapy department does not make the process of implementing PDPM easier and in fact …

Social Media Icons on Phone

The Risks of Social Media

Angie Szumlinski Compliance

Social media is a huge area of risk for providers and as such should be an important part of your QAPI committee discussions. Identifying your “social media footprint” is one step in the process however a bigger concern is your employees use of social media and how it could impact your organization. We have all heard about the horrific pictures …

Image of pills

The Hidden Drug Problem of Older Adults

Angie Szumlinski Health, News

Medication Overload, also known as Polypharmacy, continues to be on the radar for many providers and regulators and for good reason. The negative effects of even one medication can be debilitating for an older adult. Add additional medications to their drug regimen and the results can be catastrophic. In a recent interview with Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN and the …

Congratulations

Congratulations 2019 Quality Award Recipients!

Angie Szumlinski Announcements

Quality Award Recipients! HealthCap would like to congratulate the 2019 Bronze, Silver and Gold AHCA/NCAL Quality Award recipients! The quality journey is an ongoing process of evaluation and a commitment to achieving success.  Communities who have enjoyed success “live” the Baldrige criteria on a daily basis, everything done within the community is evaluated against this criteria and when necessary, systems …

Request for Criminal Background Check

OIG Background Checks

Angie Szumlinski Compliance

Although long-term care providers have been required to perform criminal background checks for many years, the national data base is not accessible to providers. In a recent article published in Provider Magazine, Mark Parkinson, CEO of AHCA/NCAL and David Gifford, MD, Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at AHCA discussed a recent OIG report on the effectiveness of …

Warning

This Could Be You!

Angie Szumlinski Compliance

The OIG is inspecting nursing facilities to identify whether they are in compliance with the Life Safety Code and Disaster Preparedness. In this article, the OIG discusses the 2016 updated life safety and emergency preparedness regulations aimed at improving care. The OIG made the decision to visit nursing facilities to ensure compliance with the regulations. The visits were conducted in …

CMS Ensuring Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes: Five Part Strategy Deep Dive

Angie Szumlinski Compliance

CMS recently blogged about their five-part approach they are using to ensure safety and quality in America’s nursing homes. The approach is: Strengthen Oversight Enhance Enforcement Increase Transparency Improve Quality Put Patients over Paperwork Seema Verma, Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wrote about the first strategy, Strengthen Oversight, in a recent blog post.

Hypertension Blood Pressure

Hypertension Could Lead to Dementia

Angie Szumlinski Health, Studies

Recent studies have shown that people with hypertension in midlife have a higher risk of developing dementia. This study, although limited, may be important to you and the caregivers in your communities. Unfortunately, many of our residents are past midlife and this information may not be relevant to them. That said, it may be helpful for your staff, family members …

Mosquito biting

Mosquito Control

Angie Szumlinski Health

It may be fall but mosquito control and disease prevention is still important! The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) developed these attachments for advice on mosquito control and how to protect yourself and your family from Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

Heart-to-Heart with HealthCap Podcast: Ep. 1 – Doing the Right Thing

Angie Szumlinski Podcast

Welcome to the 1st edition of the HealthCap Insurance and Risk Management podcast series hosted by Peter Feeney, Managing Partner at HealthCap, and Angie Szumlinski, Director of Risk Management. In this episode, Peter and Angie address what it means for senior living providers to do the right thing when it comes to providing high quality care.  Tune in as they …