Posted with permission from Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook. You can view their article HERE. A recent ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court involving the death of a resident at an independent senior living community in Oxford, MI has raised concern for owners of similarly situated communities, and rightfully so. The ruling has called into question whether residents in …
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is making Infection Control Grants available to skilled nursing facilities. The purpose of these grants is to support structural and operational improvements to skilled nursing facilities to reduce the spread of infectious disease. These grants can be used to pay for all or a portion of the costs of infection control …
Clarification of the revised arbitration rules for nursing homes continues to emerge after the proposed 2016 Final Rule was challenged in court. On June 29, 2022, the Quality, Safety, and Oversight Group at CMS issued a new memorandum focusing on surveyor guidance which included arbitration agreements. The memo stated that surveyors will begin using the guidance on October 24, 2022, …
It comes as no surprise that a recent study found that “empathy needs to be refreshed” to help both patients and providers. Doctors involved in a recent study were provided with “empathy training” in three 60-minute courses. One physician was quoted as saying “after empathy training, I feel that I like my work again, and instead of resenting all the …
It goes without saying that as elders become frailer, there is a higher risk that their care needs may not be met. Think about the 90-year-old who is transferred to the ER by ambulance with a “bad headache”. This transfer begins a journey of new faces, new care providers, new surroundings, and the delirium that often accompanies it. The patient …
Remember your coach in college, you tweak your knee during practice and they say “walk it off”! Sure, easier said than done right? Then you went home to mom who gave you a “poor baby”, had you elevate your leg, iced it, AND gave us an anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen. Ah, yes, gotta love mom, right? Well, not so fast, …
Have you ever tried to open a jar without success? You know what I’m talking about, that huge jar of pickles, you grab it, twist it, bang it on the counter, and still, the lid doesn’t budget. Of course, enter superman who takes the jar and twists the lid off with no effort at all (I always say I loosened …
You are the administrator of a senior community. It is midnight. You are sound asleep. Your cell phone rings. Never a good thing at midnight. Your midnight supervisor is frantic, can’t stay on topic, and is obviously in distress. After a few minutes, you realize there is an active shooter on your campus. What do you do? We have all …
Kids, what’s the matter with these kids today, lol! If you are as old as I am you will remember this jingle! Honestly, there is nothing “wrong” with our kids today, they are a product of their environment, many would much rather sit quietly in a comfortable chair and play on their tablets than go out and ride their bikes. …
On June 16, 2022, CMS issued a new guidance document that states the mandate requiring state surveyors to be vaccinated has been rescinded. The federal government explained that the guidance does not include any possibility of penalties for non-compliance AND further prohibits facilities from inquiring about surveyor vaccination status. There are lots of questions flying around, i.e., can you require …
