Hospices Looking for Census Improvements: Add Some Innovations

Most hospices I talk with are finding census gains difficult these days.  As I’ve written before, a number of factors are conspiring at the moment to keep census somewhat depressed and referrals tough to come by. With a struggling economy, all providers are looking for paying patient days.  Referrals that should (or would) routinely go … Read more

Hospice Contracts in SNFs: Survey Reminders for the SNF

Due to a fair amount of travel recently, I’m a tad behind in pushing out updates, etc.  Despite my rather harried schedule, I have kept track of questions, issues, etc. and in the next week to ten days, I will endeavor to get caught up.  Please know that I do appreciate the comments and questions … Read more

Due Diligence and Acquisitions: A Review of Common Pitfalls

A regular, although not necessarily routine, exercise that I go through is a re-evaluation of recent acquisitions in the senior housing/long-term care industry to see “how they are doing or performing” post transaction.  Perhaps the primary reason that I do this is my curiosity regarding the effectiveness of the due diligence process and the accuracy … Read more

Compliance, the Courts and a Risk Reminder

In previous posts I’ve written about the need for providers in all industry sectors to fully understand the compliance and legal risks that are inherent to the appropriate industry sector, as well as to health care today in general.  As someone who has been immersed in health care operations and health policy for the past … Read more

Five Things Every Administrator Should Focus On

I had a phone conversation earlier today with a friend and colleague (he’s part owner of a rehab consulting and management company) and as we talked, the conversation reminded me about the host of issues facing health care administrators.  Our conversation flowed to long-term care and specifically, SNFs (he spends a lot of his time … Read more

Better Productivity, Better Retention: Labor Strategy for 2010

For the vast majority of providers, productivity and retention are ongoing labor hassles.  Salaries and benefits are typically, the single largest expense item for health care providers and when analyzed by all of the components, a surprising percentage is allocated for labor related expenses that can and should be, reduced.  Expenses such as Worker’s Compensation, recruitment, turnover, … Read more

Getting Risks Under Control: Improving Organizational Prosperity

Healthcare is a risky business; particularly in heavily regulated environments such as nursing homes and home health and hospice.  The fact that a certain level of risk is omnipresent means that the opportunity constantly exists for an organization that improperly identifies and manages its risks, to suffer expensive damages ranging from financial loss to loss … Read more