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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41971124/ns/health-alzheimers_disease/ There’s some huge news for individuals and their families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease!  We may be closing in on a cure quickly.  According to new findings, beta amyloid, the protein (or actually a multi-amino acid peptide) responsible for ”plaque” buildup in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, may actually be produced in the liver. Now,...

Sometimes you are trying to verify benefits / payer source on a referral and you’re working with a Medicare number that ends in a letter.  Here’s a quick cheat sheet on the meaning associated with that letter: Code Meaning A Primary claimant (wage earner), retired worker B Aged wife, age 62 or over B1 Aged husband, age 62 or over B2 Young wife, with a child in her care B3 Aged wife, age 62 or over, second...

As a new nursing home administrator – or maybe you’re just taking a new building – you have to find out what level your staff is on, especially the individual who is marketing the nursing home.  You know your census depends on the quality and census development ability of your Marketing Director.  Believe it or not, sometimes you run across someone who has either never been trained properly or has become too complacent...

Today we have a guest post from Kitty Holman on the subject of Nursing Home Disaster Preparedness.  Enjoy!        Disaster Preparedness in Nursing Homes: Some Thoughts Ever since Hurricane Katrina hit, nursing homes and care facilities have been working to improve their disaster preparedness and response plans. The hurricane prompted a review of these disaster plans; in fact, many state health departments updated their disaster plans...

I was having a conversation recently with a couple of other people in the industry.  We were discussing what’s the worst thing about starting out as a new administrator or leader in the nursing home environment. Lack of experience?  Sure.  Dealing with difficult families?  You bet.  Surveys?  Ding, ding.  All those can be very overwhelming for a rookie in our world.  However, I have to say that one of the worst things I had to...

For shame!  I hear this all the time and have followed supposed “troubleshooters” in many buildings.  The same folks who fail to get the facility even halfway back on track.  I’m pulling your “troubleshooter” card as of now!  You’re not a troubleshooter; you’re an interim.  There’s a big difference. We need to set some ground rules as some of you are tarnishing our good name.  Rule #1...

If you haven’t figured it out by now, those of us working in the longterm care industry have a ton of work to do.  I have worked in other industries and this one by far takes the cake with giving you so many tasks you can’t think straight. One of the things that used to drive me crazy is that I couldn’t get finished with all the tasks that had developed during the day in addition to the items already on my agenda.  I...

Several times in my career I’ve had to take a facility that was in it’s survey window and I just knew we were nowhere near ready.  It’s pretty stressful to realize the impending doom that survey can present if they find everything you know is wrong.  And there just isn’t enough time to get everything fixed. There are a few things you can do to improve your odds of having a decent survey at least clinically.  Some...