LOS ANGELES — Depression can be a chameleon in the elderly. It may manifest through symptoms like low appetite and apathy, but it can also cause overeating and oversleeping. And even to the trained eye, depression may appear to be extended grief at...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a proposed rule to reduce the number of mandatory geographic areas participating in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (Innovation Center) Comprehensive Care for Joint...
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants have a key role in improving transitions from the SNF to the community, said Debra Bakerjian, PhD, associate adjunct professor in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California,...
Nursing home residents want to know the staff who care for them and to be known in return. Such reciprocal relationships are central to palliative care and, more broadly, to person-directed living, but they often don’t happen without concerted...
AMDA – the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine’s Board of Directors has entrusted the Innovations Platform Advisory Committee (IPAC) to lead the creation of an innovations infrastructure for the Society. IPAC comprises key health care...
In the December 2016 “Caring Transitions” column, James Lett, MD, CMD, told a true story about a disagreeable event he encountered as a medical director (Lett, Caring for the Ages 2016;17[12]:16): A patient on observation status (OBS) while in the...
As a medical director, I have worked with many dedicated clinical staff. However, passion does not always translate to quality care due to the historical systems that have been put in place across an organization. To see results, leadership must...
In late August, the Food and Drug Administration somewhat surprisingly granted “breakthrough” status to a not-so-new drug, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, long used recreationally in the club scene and known as ecstasy, X, or Molly), for the...
LOS ANGELES — Endocrinologist Jane Weinreb, MD, has a message for long-term care facilities and clinicians about caring for people with diabetes: help them control their glucose, but don’t overdo it. In fact, a high HbA1C level — even nearly 9% —...
