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The High Cost of Cutting Corners on Care Plans

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
Mr. H, an 80-year-old black man, was admitted to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation after undergoing an open reduction, internal fixation to repair a broken left hip. Mr. H had several comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes, dementia...

Glucose-Lowering Drugs Linked to Increased Fracture Risk in Patients With Diabetes

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
Researchers in Denmark have concluded that use of glucose-lowering sulfonylureas and glitazones within 90 days increased the risk for hip fractures in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes.

Implications of the Final Rule on Psychotropic Medication Use

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
The final rule for long-term care facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs was published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Oct. 4, 2016, as “Medicare and Medicaid programs; reform of requirements for long-term...

Dying for Dollars

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
The headline read, “How tens of thousands of patients who weren’t actually dying wound up on hospice care.” This appeared in the Washington Post on Sept. 15, 2016. The reason, according to this article, was that “hospice companies earn more by...

Alzheimer’s Candidate Drug Aducanumab Moves to Phase III

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
SAN DIEGO — The antiamyloid antibody aducanumab significantly reduced amyloid brain plaques in Alzheimer’s disease patients who entered a second year of therapy in an open-label extension trial.

Elderly Trauma Patients Do Well in Non-ICU Wards

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
CORONADO, CA — When elderly patients are appropriately triaged, they can be selectively admitted to non–intensive care wards with acceptable outcomes, results from a single-center study showed.

More to Quality Care Than Rehospitalization Rates

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
Some years ago, my nursing home administrator and I met with the chief executive officer of the local hospital, whose idea was to start directing hospital patients to “preferred” nursing homes. “But, but, but,” I sputtered, “you have to give people...

The Role of Attitude, Culture in Long-Term Care Hospitalization Rates

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
Whether a long-term care facility faces high hospitalizations rates for residents could be a matter of attitude on the part of both the clinical and the support staff, according to a recent small qualitative study.

ADT Not Associated With Increased Risk of Dementia

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
Treatment with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was not associated with an increased risk of dementia in a large, population-based study, according to investigators.

Gains in Nursing Home IT Sophistication Greater Than Expected

Caring for the Ages
March 1, 2017
Although health care reform efforts nationally have included innovations in health care information technology (IT), the focus has tended to be on hospital systems and their affiliates, with nursing homes remaining an afterthought. That’s according...