MDS item L0200 (Dental) often gets limited attention even though it fuels the Dental Care care area assessment (CAA), one of 20 CAAs that can be triggered in response to MDS coding (i.e., care area triggers or CATs) and then must be analyzed by the interdisciplinary team (IDT) to help …
AAPACN, along with dozens of healthcare organizations, urge Congress to support the timely, targeted, and temporary liability relief provisions contained in S. 4317, the “SAFE TO WORK Act.” These crucial protections would safeguard healthcare workers, providers, and facilities, as well as businesses, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions against unfair lawsuits …
By Julie Helling, BSN, RN I have struggled with my faith on so many occasions. There have been more times than I can count when my beliefs have gone to war with my surroundings. As with so many healthcare workers, I have seen families, and residents, at their worst. A …
On July 17, 2020, AAPACN urged the Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes to provide sufficient resources to SNFs and to streamline and ensure coordination between CMS and state and local governments. Read full comments.
ICD-10-CM coding plays a substantial role in the accuracy of Medicare reimbursement under PDPM. However, collecting this information often requires a lot of research and queries or clarifications with the resident’s physician. AAPACN’s Comprehensive Diagnosis Collection Flow Chart helps the NAC to communicate the time and effort it may take …
By Julie Helling, BSN, RN My life changed at age 14. I had no plans on becoming a nurse. In fact, I was entertaining the idea of becoming a music teacher. Then, my grandfather came to live with us when I was in the 8th grade. I didn’t know him …
AAPACN’s Interactive Physician Certification Tracker adjusts the certification signature due dates when the data entered indicates that a resident had an interrupted stay. This tool will help ensure your team remains in compliance with physician certifications throughout the Medicare stay. For permission to use or reproduce this tool in full …
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and AAPACN recognizes the struggles long-term care professionals are facing right now to keep their mental health balanced during to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses may be feeling stressed, tired, overwhelmed, or depressed by the hard decisions they must make every day and the situations …
This Nurse’s Week, we honor four rising stars in long-term and post-acute care. The AAPACN Education Foundation positively impacts the lives of 1.4 million people living in nursing homes by providing scholarships for nurses seeking their RN license and degrees in nursing. In 2020, the AAPACN Education Foundation awarded more …
To bill under traditional fee-for-service Medicare Part A, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) must obtain appropriate, timely physician certifications and recertifications of posthospital inpatient extended-care services. The physician cert/recert policy did not change with the implementation of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) on October 1, 2019. However, the Centers for Medicare …
