Over the last several years, with the help from the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid have worked with other federal government agencies, states, patient organizations, and others to identify and prevent those health conditions that have caused long-term care residents to be unnecessarily hospitalized. Because of these efforts, we have seen a dramatic reduction in avoidable hospitalizations over the …
Pre-Dispute Arbitration Rule – Enforcement Delayed
By: Kally Goodwin-Ratzloff, John Hessburg, & William D. Chaklos Kitch Attorneys and Counselors As you may have heard, the American Health Care Association, the Mississippi Health Care Association, and three long term care facilities (collectively the “plaintiffs”) filed a complaint against the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on …
Brown University Survey on Camera Use – Part 2
In a blog post from May, 2016 we discussed the Brown University anonymous survey on camera use in long-term care facilities. Brown University has released some interesting statistics from the responses gathered to date. As you can see, this is a hot topic for our members and we will continue to follow the survey results as they are made available. …
Active Shooter – Everyone's Worst Nightmare!
The unfortunate truth in our industry is that Active Shooter policies, procedures and training are not only necessary but may be required, depending on your community’s levels of care and licensure. There is so much information from FEMA, OSHA, Homeland Security and other validated sources that it can be overwhelming to review. Evolucent suggests beginning with an evaluation of your …
Protecting Resident Privacy and Prohibiting Mental Abuse Related to Photographs and Audio/Video Recordings by Nursing Home Staff
Memorandum Summary Freedom from Abuse: Each resident has the right to be free from all types of abuse, including mental abuse. Mental abuse includes, but is not limited to, abuse that is facilitated or caused by nursing home staff taking or using photographs or recordings in any manner that would demean or humiliate a resident(s). Facility and State Agency Responsibilities: …
HRQ Effective Health Care Technical Brief
Resident Safety Practices in Nursing Home Settings Structured Abstract Access the full report here: https://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/ehc/products/621/2224/nursing-home-safety-report-160510.pdf Background. Resident safety issues are common in nursing homes. Relevant literature reports a range of poor clinical outcomes thought to be preventable if specific care processes were consistently implemented. Purpose. To describe the state of the science around nursing home safety in order to …
OIG Mid-Year Update to Work Plan
The OIG has posted a mid-year update to its work plan. Are you visiting the OIG website on a regular basis to educate yourself on focus areas for LTC? If not, consider flagging your calendar to do so on a quarterly basis. There are three new reports pending re: SNFs/NFs posted, please visit the link below. As always, should you …