In This Issue
Beautiful Sadness – A Tribute to Debbie Mathis
I suppose all of us deal with grief and loss in different ways. For me, for some reason I’ve never understood, snippets of songs come into my crazy head in times of loss. It happened when my father died in 2002, and it’s happened over and over again throughout the years. So perhaps it’s no surprise that on Saturday, June 4th when Polly Welsh called to tell me that Debbie Mathis had passed after her long battle with cancer, it happened again.
OIG Issues New Advisory Opinion on Hospital to Post-Acute Care Settings Referral Arrangements
On May 20, 2011, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an Advisory Opinion (AO) in which it concluded that a referral arrangement operated by a for-profit company that many SNFs reportedly use could violate the anti-kickback statute and expose the parties to the arrangement to civil money fines and other sanctions. more…
Turning Your Facility and Staff into Detectives – Complying with the Elder Justice Act Crime Reporting Requirements
On June 17, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued much-needed guidance to state survey agency directors on what CMS expects from a long term care (LTC) facility that is obligated to report a “reasonable suspicion of a crime” committed against a resident of that facility. This vexing provision of the Elder Justice Act (EJA) found in last year’s massive health care reform law triggers an almost impossibly short reporting obligation, not only for the facility, but also for certain individuals. more…
Ken’s Quote of the Month
“For what avail the plough or sail, Or land or life, if freedom fail?” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson