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Knowledge Point Articles
Welcome to Knowledge Point, the quarterly eNewsletter for health care providers. Our mission is to share clinical and regulatory expertise from the health care community with you. If you would like to subscribe to Briggs Knowledge Point Articles for Long-Term Care, please email us at LongTermCare@BriggsCorp.com with your request.
September 2007
A Disaster Strikes … Are You Prepared?
Natural and man-made disasters are a very real threat to every senior care
provider … is your facility prepared?
Click here for more information.
July 2007
Is Your Long-Term Care Facility Survey-Ready? Operational Guidelines, Policies and Procedures
Long-term care facilities know the importance of survey preparation and the deficiencies, fines and negative publicity that can come with poor results. Facilities are also aware that year-round survey readiness leads to deficiency-free surveys.
Click here for more information.
April 2007
Communicating During a Crisis
There are many textbook examples of how major corporations mishandled a company crisis simply because they ignored the problem. If you have taken the time to create a crisis plan for your facility, you and your staff will have a much greater level of comfort going into crisis mode. Part of that plan must include communicating to internal and external audiences.
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March 2007
National Provider Indentifier (NPI)
The National Provider Identifier (NPI) is a unique identification number for a health care provider that will be used by all health plans. However, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) discovered they had incorrectly formatted the revised form, and they have decided to delay the transition date.
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February 2007
Does Your Medical Record Measure Up?
How does your medical record measure up to today’s standards? With consumers of health care becoming more aware of their rights to access records and health care standards, does your record measure up to expectations?
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January 2007
Influenza and Pneumococcal Pneumonia Vaccine-Preventable Diseases for the Geriatric Population
Two diseases that can be devastating to the geriatric population are vaccine-preventable. These diseases are influenza and pneumococcal pneumonia. The health care community has the responsibility of assisting public health in promoting and providing the immunizations against influenza and pneumococcal pneumonia.
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December 2006
What does Restorative Nursing have to do with it?
Restorative nursing is not a new concept. It has everything to do with succeeding in the quality of care provided, resident dignity and self worth, survey compliance and meeting payment criteria. Identifying individual resident restorative needs, planning and delivering Restorative Programs impacts the following …
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November 2006
Is Your Kitchen Safe?
Federal nursing home tag F371 “Store, prepare, distribute and serve food under sanitary conditions” is one of the deficiencies most often sited in nursing facilities. Is your kitchen ready for survey?
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August 2006
Special Diets
By keeping diets liberal and simple you can assure that you are offering your residents the foods that comfort and nourish to enhance quality of life.
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May 2006
Activities and Creating a Resident-Directed Culture
Residents in Long-Term Care need to receive care and/or services to maximize their highest practicable quality of life. However, defining “quality of life” has been difficult as it is subjective for each person.
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April 2006
Data Verification and Assessment (DAVE2) Project
The new DAVE2 project is focused on the MDS coding and the coding elements for quality indicators and quality measures with limited focus on the payment elements.
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March 2006
Unintentional Weight Loss
For an older adult who is in a compromised state of health, unintentional weight loss can lead to a hazardous downward spiral of malnutrition, increased risk of infection, development of pressure ulcers, poor wound healing, weakness leading to falls and more.
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February 2006
National Nursing Home Time Study
On December 13, 2005, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held a Special Open Door Forum on the national nursing home time study called Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification (STRIVE).
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January 2006
The Importance of Performing Thorough Investigations
In a recent letter to surveyors, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced they are working with various agencies, including a Johns Hopkins University forensic investigator, to design a national curriculum tailored to improve the investigative skills of state surveyors.
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December 2005
Long-Term Care Nursing Facility Posting of Nurse Staffing Information
On October 28, 2005, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the requirements that establish new data collection, posting and recordkeeping requirements for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and Nursing Facilities (NFs).
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November 2005
RUGS 53 - Effects on Skilled Nursing Facility Payments
The new RUGS 53 classification will be in effect January 1, 2006. So what does that mean to Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF)?
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October 2005
Pay for Performance Demonstration Project
On September 20, 2005, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held a Special Open Door Forum on the Nursing Home Pay for Performance Demonstration Project in Baltimore, Maryland.
Click here for more information.
September 2005
Influenza and Pneumococcal Pneumonia Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Many communicable diseases are not preventable by use of vaccines; however, two diseases that can be very devastating to the geriatric population are vaccine-preventable.
Click here for more information.
August 2005
CMS combines F-tags 315 and 316 into one new F315 tag
On June 28, 2005, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new surveyor guidance in Appendix PP for incontinence and catheters which combine F315 and F316 into one tag: F315.
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July 2005
Choosing an Online Purchasing Tool
The implementation of e-commerce solutions to facilitate B2B exchanges creates an efficiency that was not available in the past. When a new vendor solicits your business, do you ask if they have an online solution?
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June 2005
Get Up to Speed on the NEW F309/F314
The CMS release of the new guidance to surveyors on November 12, 2004, which entirely replaces F314 and adds definitions to F309, requires nursing home facilities to determine how these new guidelines will be implemented at the resident level.
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May 2005
Coding in Long-Term Care
In post MDS days, coding accuracy and education have taken on a new role. There are more resources and tools available to long-term care coders today than ever before.
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