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- Health insurance claim denial
- Hospital shift change - The most frequent medical error - Senior fraud schemes
- "Observation only" hospital stays
- Sleep issues in assisted living facilities
- Family mediation and senior issues
- Creativity and aging
- Sex, condoms, seniors
- Senior friendly products
- Common diagnostic tests
- Global dementia projections
- Beers list criteria
- Pre-authorization delays
- NC SHIIP
- Senior Pharmassist
- Poor nursing home pay
- The CLASS act
- Falls and Fractures
- Creative advantages
- Are we safer now? (hospital safety)
- Trauma center bias
- Nursing home practices
- Revocable Trust review
- Hospital discharge
- Home health agencies
- Geriatric MD shortage
- Bereavement counseling
- Hospital Re-admissions
- For-Profit Nursing Care Homes
- Reverse Mortgage Councilors
- Home Safety Checklist
- Health Care Literacy
- National Patient Advocacy Foundation
- 10 Ways you Get Smarter as You Age
- Driving Errors and Aging Drivers
Issue # 10
Most Drugs Don't Work for Most Patients
Six Steps to a Successful LTC Transition
Falls and Their Prevention
The Need for "At Home" Services
Issue #11
Hospital Safety Video
The Cost of Caregiving
The Hospital to Nursing Home Revolving Door
VA vs. Medicare Drug Price Comparison
Issue #12
Criminal Records in Nursing Homes
Consistent Assignment in LTC
The High Cost of Poor Nursing Care
The Culture Change Movement in LTC
Issue #13
What Are Old People for?
Hospital Comparisons
Medicare Enrollment
End of Life Discussion
Issue # 14
The Cost of Getting Old
$42 Million Gift
Discharge Planning
Thriving and Aging
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A recent New York Times story describes Medicare's new evaluation process for reimbursing hospitals that takes into consideration patient satisfaction scores. Hospital satisfaction ratings will be based on questions like, "Did doctors and nurses communicate well?", "Was pain well controlled?", "Was your room clean?" and " Was it quiet at night?" and the surveys will include younger people as well as Medicare beneficiaries. Some hospitals claim this comparison is unfair but nevertheless it illustrates the clout a consumer has as a hospital patient. Your satisfaction is directly connected to the hospital's bottom line. Take a look at the Health and Human services site linked below to see how your hospital has scored in previous years. Put in your zip, mark several hospitals, hit search, and look for 
In 1987 the Nursing Home Reform Act declared that residents in long-term care have the right to be free from abuse and neglect. Since that time a variety of strategies have been tried to make nursing homes more"resident centered" and none have been more successful than the Green House movement. It is a comprehensive effort to reinvent the conventional nursing home experience, including its physical appearance and the way medical care is delivered. While there are only just over one hundred of these facilities in the country, their model exerts pressure on the industry to engage in similar transformation and may very well be a peek at the future of aging. 
A recent study of pain medication delivery in Hospital Emergency Departments finds that patients 75 years old and up received significantly less medication for severe pain than those in the 35-54 range. The reasons for this aren't entirely clear but many suggest that ED physicians may be more concerned about negative side effects in this population. This begs the question, "Where are the geriatricians who might give qualified direction in such circumstances?"