Steven Littlehale

The report titled “Uninspected and Neglected” by the majority staff of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging brings attention to a pressing issue: the severe understaffing of inspection agencies...

Back in September, I shared my insights in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News about the importance of being your own data defender. In that blog, I expressed a viewpoint that I believe strongly in: Every...

It’s been a flurry of activity leading up to the implementation of the “new MDS.” For months our industry has been doing what we do best — rising to the occasion.  Countless MDS training sessions,...

“Well, it’s clear that you’ve never set foot into a nursing home.” I know you’ve thought that while reading a memo from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or your state agency, taking...

My father died a little over a year ago. While I usually derive tremendous comfort and support by sharing both happy and sad milestones with friends, family, and colleagues, in this instance, sharing the...

When I read my first SNF PPS final rule about 25 years ago, I thought that the start dates for some of its initiatives were so far in the future that they were of no concern. As a young person, my long-range...

In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started focused on-site surveys to address the issue of erroneous coding of schizophrenia in nursing homes.  More recently, the agency began conducting...

Last month I wrote about risk. I shared that risk in a nursing home originates from many places: residents and families, federal and state regulators, vendors, payers, insurance companies, referral sources...

We encounter risk every day. Risk is present in the most innocuous actions, like crossing the street, walking into the supermarket, and even eating dinner. And as nursing home operators and providers well...

Are you a “New Year’s resolution” kind of person? I am not, but I am a strong believer in establishing goals and setting intentions. Whether you prefer to make a resolution or set a goal, January...