The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a new initiative Thursday aimed at improving behavioral health and reducing the use of antipsychotic medications in nursing home residents.
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Elder abuse quadruples risk of nursing home admission, report finds
As many as one in 10 people age 60 and over are affected by abuse and have a fourfold increased risk of nursing home admission, according to the latest “Public Policy & Aging Report” from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).
The report argued that while the Elder Justice Act—signed into law with 2010’s Affordable Care Act—authorizes $777 million over four years to combat elder abuse by creating advisory bodies and funding adult protective services, it has actually “received no appropriations to date.”
LTC industry generates $259 billion in revenue during 2011
Overall revenues for the U.S. long-term care industry grew 31 percent since 2006, reaching $259 billion in 2011, according to a new report from Kalorama Information.
The four market segments included in the report are: nursing home, assisted living, hospice and home care.
16 years of nursing home life
Last week marked my 16th year of living in nursing homes. It all began with me as an emergency admission to a rural southeastern Ohio facility, frightened to death and wondering how I would make it.
I arrived with almost nothing. Former caregivers brought some of my belongings a couple of days later, and the nursing home staff helped set up my computer and typewriter to keep me busy. I was surprised at their generosity and pleased that they seemed to really care.
Optimizing your Web presence through Google
The more active your senior living community is on Google, the more you’ll reap the benefits of search engine optimization (SEO), according to Stacy Case, a training specialist at G5, which specializes in search marketing.
New criteria identify common drugs potentially risky for seniors
More than 50 medications and classes of medications can cause serious side effects or other adverse events in people 65 and older if not prescribed with care, according to the American Geriatrics Society’s newly updated “Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults.”
The criteria, last revised in 2003, were published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Researchers link Alzheimer’s and diabetes
Emerging research suggesting that Alzheimer's disease may be linked to insulin resistance and could eventually be considered a third type of diabetes was supported by two new articles published in the April 2 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Limit on Medicare RAC records requests increased; SNFs to provide more documentation
In a notice last week on the Medicare Fee-for-Service Recovery Audit Program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services increased the number of medical records that can be requested by Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) from providers.
The resident plant lady and her green wares
One morning during the late winter of 2010, I noticed in the rear dining room many dirt-filled plastic cups lining the windowsills and the unused countertop. When I asked staff about the cups, I was told another resident, Melinda (pseudonym), was starting seeds as she has done each spring.
As spring approached, the back dining room grew warm and Melinda's plants sprouted soon enough. She planted tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers as well as marigolds and some other flowers.
CMS initiative seeks to reduce avoidable nursing home hospitalizations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is committing up to $128 million to reduce avoidable hospitalizations among nursing facility residents enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new initiative announced Thursday.
The initiative aims to fund organizations that would partner with nursing facilities to provide enhanced on-site services to residents through evidence-based interventions.
Collaboration between nursing home RNs, LPNs could reduce medication errors
Nursing home registered nurses (RNs) and license practical nurses (LPNs) often differ in how they identify medication discrepancies when patients are transferred between healthcare settings, according to a recent study by the University of Missouri.
Japanese officials meet with Evercare to discuss nurse practitioner model
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Clockwise, from left: Yoko Hasegawa, Chief of Nursing Service Promotion, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan; Chihiro Kimura, RN, ARNP G-N, a former Evercare Nurse Practitioner who acted as a liaison and translator; Beth Whiteford, Evercare Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Advisor; and Haruka Ogawa, C
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