As a health care marketing professional, I have done some overseas work in the area of medical tourism, that is helping overseas hospitals market to U.S. and European patients. Until yesterday, I had never seen the concept applied to nursing homes. This is an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune...
Tag: caregivers
Nursing Home Watch List
Senator Charles Grassley is proposing a new “watch list” for nursing homes that aren’t meeting federal health and safety standards. “That would include nursing homes that yo-yo in and out of compliance by using grace periods to correct deficiencies, but only then on a temporary basis,” Grassley says. The public...
Long-term Care Insurance
One of the myths I dispel in “Who Moved My Dentures?” is how long-term care is paid for in this country. Forbes had a recent article outlining the issues. I paraphrase it here. Overall demand for long-term care is expected to expand massively over the next 50 years, as the...
Beware the Outspoken Board Member
An outspoken member of the Grady hospital board, an Atlanta facility experiencing a severe money crunch, last week took it upon himself to hand a neighboring county a $4 million bill for Grady services, implying that the hospital would not be in a money crunch if it didn’t have to...
Hospital and Nursing Home Infections
Pennsylvania‘s hospitals and nursing homes would be required to promptly report patient infections to state authorities and take measures to reduce such infections under a bill sent to Gov. Ed Rendell on Saturday. The measure is intended to reduce insurance premiums by requiring more stringent measures to monitor for and...
Nursing Home Demographics Changing
The Kaiser Family Foundation issued a report this month entitled “Changes in Characteristics, Needs, and Payment for Care of Elderly Nursing Home Residents: 1999 to 2004.” The proportion of elderly adults over age 65 in nursing homes has declined over the past two decades, most noticeably in recent years. Some...
Elder Abuse
State and federal authorities have imposed “some of the most severe penalties” possible – short of shutdown – on a nursing home plagued by recent problems, including two patient deaths. The Chicago-based company that owns East Peoria Gardens Health Care Center faces a $100,000 fine and the loss of five...
The Benefits of Humor
Loma Linda University conducted a study in which they separated a group of people into two subgroups, one group watching comedy videos, the other not. When they measured body chemistry levels afterwards, they found that all of the good chemistry we associate with exercise (endorphins and such) was elevated in...
Elderly Scams
The New York Times yesterday had an excellent article on scams aimed at the elderly. They particularly took to task organizations that offer “credentials” as a certified professional/advisor, credentials that are typically bought more so than earned. I have been approached by these firms as well and have been cautious....
About the Blog!
Welcome. I have been toying with this idea for some time and finally decided to just do it as they say. I wear many hats. I am a health care marketing professional who consults with organizations world wide. As a lifelong entertainer, I fell into a mission serving older adults...