Duties of Boards: An OIG Perspective

This seemed to be a natural successor topic to my last post, “Why Quality Matters”; principally arising out of recent press releases from the OIG.  For example, in June the OIG reported that it had recovered $2.4 Billion in fraud, waste and abuse.  In July, an OIG release reported that a Nursing Home Executive was banned … Read more

Why Quality Matters

In the past month or so I have had a lot of conversations with various entities ranging from providers to investors about the financial state of the industry.  The majority of the discussions have been around all things financial – reimbursement in particular and as this topic goes, so goes expenses.  Understandably the economic and … Read more

Diversification: Staying on Top in a Changing Industry

Without question, the post-acute healthcare industry is changing.  Every sector, from skilled nursing to assisted living to senior housing to home health and hospice has and will continue to undergo, some form of transformation.  The reasons are many ranging from federal health policy changes, reimbursement changes, regulatory changes, the economy in general and the real … Read more

Senior Living vs. Senior Lifestyle: Adjusting the Development Curve

Creating the right “next generation” environment requires a complete re-visioning of the convetional senior housing model. Incorporating new design elements within the space is not only mandatory in new environments but critical in existing environments as well. Most assuredly, lifesytle issues will bear far more weight on the success or failure of any new or existing project as the next generation of seniors migrate or downsize from their homes to a specialized environment.

The Federal Healthcare Abyss

Fresh off an oversea tour and a visit to France no less, the President returns promising to become more engaged and agressive in getting his healthcare plan passed; ideally says he, by this summer.  The reasons Mr. Obama proffers are many and urgent.  Chief among the reasons is that the system (healthcare) is broke (and … Read more

Creating the Right Niche’

With the economy the way it is and the real estate market not quite into “recovery” mode as of yet, many senior housing projects are struggling to find their footing and thus, achievedesired occupancy levels.  This is particularly true of projects that have entry fees or endowments as part of their pricing or where monthly … Read more

Medicaid Shell Game – Part Two

A while back I wrote about the annual/bi-annual shell game that is perpetrated  in Wisconsin with the Medicaid program – specifically, the SNF funding and reimbursement components thereto.  Now that the Joint Finance Committee of the Legislature has completed its budget process, we can see, fully exposed, how much of the shell game has really … Read more