Earlier today, I received a question from someone who is about to step into the role of a Regional Marketing Director and will be responsible for the marketing and census development of multiple facilities.  She asked if I had any ideas on where someone would start if they were entering such a role.  Here is my response: “…Sure, I have a few things that may help.  Some of these may be slightly redundant as you already have...

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” - Vince Lombardi Share this:FacebookShareStumbleUponDiggEmailRedditPrint

Every nursing home is required to have at least an annual survey in the range of every 9 – 12 months.  Of course, if you have complaints or are a focus facility, your survey will have a shortened span between them, every 6 months or so. The goal of every nursing home administrator and facility should be to be survey ready everyday.  It does no good to not think about survey all year until the State survey team shows up. So, to...

Almost everyone has one and at times they can be a royal pain!  Bosses!  How do you deal with a boss that has a completely different mindset and personality than yourself?  I have had several real winners in my career ranging from the immature-and-explosive, to the better-than-thou, to the raving psychopath, to the drunk pill-popper, to the always-has inappropriate-relationship-rumors-flying-around-him, to the...

  One of the first things I learned in the nursing home industry is that when you receive a referral, you’ve got to act quickly to capture it.  A typical scenario is that a discharge planner at a hospital either faxes out a referral to multiple facilities or uses an email referral distribution service such as e-Discharge to distribute the referral to multiple facilities. From the time you get this referral, you are competing...

In the past week, I have had a unique opportunity to observe a facility with another company fall to the pressures of survey.  The facility had a rough history – staying out of compliance more than in.  A few IJ’s later, CMS has pulled the plug on their Medicare/Medicaid provider agreement.  They lost their certification.  What this means is that they have to discharge all their Medicare and Medicaid residents.  They have...

I recently discussed different sales and marketing strategies for nursing homes with a friend of mine.  One strategy that I always see is the practice of dropping off cookies, candy, doughnuts, and other goodies at potential referral source locations.  Many “experts” advise against this practice as the referral sources may come just to see you as the candy-lady or the cookie-man and forget the whole reason you’re...

This is a problem that comes up in nursing homes at times.  You have a nursing home resident that goes home in the middle of their 100-day Medicare benefit period.  They get home, have a decline, and need to come back to you.  If they need skilled services within 30 days of the discharge from your facility, you can accept them back under Part A without a new 3-midnight hospital stay. If they’ve stayed out of the skilled nursing...

It started snowing yesterday and didn’t stop.  It came quickly and was unexpected, but after 6 inches of snow on the ground, I knew we’d have problems.  As an administrator, it’s my job to ensure that I maintain adequate staffing levels round the clock for my nursing home.  The snow can cause many issues:  lost power, heat issues, call-ins, etc.  It can be pretty difficult to drive in especially in areas like this...