Top Stories

ALFA 2013: ALFA honors six Senior Living Hero Award winners

Pamela Tabar, Senior Editor

Fmr. First Lady Laura Bush presents the Hero Awards at the ALFA 2013 conference.

Skilled care in the south of France

Gabriel Bach, PhD, MBA

Every country in the world--from Argentina to Zimbabwe--is confronted with the problem of caring for its elderly and paying for that care. Here's a firsthand look at how senior care is provided at a facility in France.

Skilled nursing occupancy hovers near 8-year low

National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry

Overall nursing occupancy is near the the eight-year cyclical low, but private-pay nursing units are seeing some recovery.

Hot Topics

The case for nurse coaching

Pressure ulcers: What we don’t know can hurt us

Small changes have big impact on LTC residents’ sense of control, autonomy

Staff scheduling strategies for better care and better business

Front Porch puts mHealth medication management on front burner

May 17, 2013     Pamela Tabar, Senior Editor
news

The Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing and CareSpeak Communications develop a patient-centric medications reminder service to improve seniors' medication compliance.

Evacuation costs may be levied on ill-prepared La. SNFs

May 17, 2013     Sandra Hoban, Managing Editor
news

Ignoring evacuation plans may become costly for Louisiana facilities that do not have adequate systems in place to move their residents out of harm's way.

CMMI rethinks its innovation program, sharpens focus for Round 2 funding

May 16, 2013     Pamela Tabar, Editor-in-Chief
news

CMS’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announces a significantly smaller and more-focused project list for Round Two of the funding awards.

Signature HealthCARE acquires six Kindred Healthcare SNFs

May 16, 2013     Sandra Hoban, Managing Editor
news

Signature HealthCARE has acquired six facilities from Kindred Healthcare, increasing Signature’s national presence to 78 facilities.

Senate confirms Marilyn Tavenner as permanent administrator of CMS

May 16, 2013     Mark Hagland, Healthcare Informatics
news

 Tavenner is the first permanent administrator of that federal agency to be confirmed in nearly a decade.

Featured Links

What 55+ consumers (don’t call them ‘seniors’) want in their living environments

Cost of dementia care exceeds U.S. cancer costs

Medicare fraudsters nabbed in $223 million nationwide bust

May 15, 2013     Pamela Tabar, Editor-in-Chief
news

This week’s Medicare fraud sting operation involved nearly 100 people across multiple states, including physicians, nurses and therapists.

Skilled nursing: The continuing quest for quality

May 15, 2013     Sandra Hoban, Managing Editor
news

While quality and satisfaction scores have improved, skilled nursing facilities need to continue to improve and adapt to government policy and reimbursement cuts to survive.

Can sleep quality predict the need for nursing home care?

May 14, 2013     Sandra Hoban, Managing Editor
news

Counting sheep, warm milk and a quiet room are not cure-all remedies for insomnia. A recent study finds that sleeplessness may predict the need for extended care.

FDA approves 24-hour COPD drug

May 13, 2013     Pamela Tabar, Senior Editor
news

The FDA has approved the first once-a-day inhalant to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Staff shortages trigger investigation of W. Va. veterans nursing home

May 10, 2013     Sandra Hoban, Managing Editor
news

Too many hours, too little pay and too few staff are the accusations at a West Virginia nursing home for veterans currently under state investigation.

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Blogs

LTPAC information technology conference melds care quality & business impact

May 13, 2013     John F. Derr, RPh

June's LTPAC HIT Summit will mark the annual long-term and post-acute care meeting of the minds of technology and longitudinal care coordination.

Nighttime housekeeping is disruptive

May 13, 2013     Kathleen Mears

While nursing homes are a 24-hour-a-day operation, maintenance/housekeeping staff need to schedule loud and/or noisy projects at times that won't limit accessibility to residents or disturb their routines.

Celebrate National Nursing Home Week

May 9, 2013     Sandra Hoban, Managing Editor

It’s time to stand up and recognize those dedicated individuals for all they do to make life in long-term care a positive and fulfilling experience for America’s frail elderly.

A trainee's misstep

May 6, 2013     Kathleen Mears

A confrontation on feeding protocol and personal safety takes place between an aide in training and her instructor in the presence of residents.

See all blog posts