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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
Issue # 15
Friends of Residents Gala
Hospital Satisfaction Evaluations
The Green House Movement
Where Are the Geriatricians?
Issue #16
Overuse of Anti-Psychotic Drugs
Hospital Disability Syndrome
Nursing Homes and End of Life
News in Dementia Care
Issue #17
Aging and Happiness
ER for Seniors
Old Brain/Young Brain
Gene Cohen/Creativity
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A study conducted by the University of California/SF and published by Health Services Research found that large, for-profit nursing home chains have fewer staff nurses per resident than government or not-for-profit homes. Between 2003 and 2008 their total nursing hours per resident was 30% lower than the national average. Moreover, these chains were cited for 36 percent more deficiencies and 41 percent more serious deficiencies than the best facilities in the country.
Since 2006, the Duke University School of Nursing has been part of a nationwide push to certify more geriatric resource nurses. Nurses Improving Care to Health System Elders, or NICHE, trains nurses to meet the care and safety needs of older patients, including fall prevention, pain management, and medication management. Congratulations to Duke Medicine for leading other peer institutions in this effort.
Medicaid (much like Medicare) will not pay for assisted living, so if individuals qualify as "low income", they are often sent to more expensive nursing homes even though they do not need that level of care. Some states are getting around that restriction by using "Medicaid waivers" to place residents in less expensive assisted living facilities. It's estimated that between 20 and 30% of Medicaid nursing home placements do not require that level of care. Illinois, one of the states that use this tactic, saved about 50 million last year.