Recent Publication: Falls and Fractures among Nursing Home Residents Treated with Pimavanserin versus Other Atypical Antipsychotics: Analysis of Medicare Beneficiaries with Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis

Reducing falls and fractures remains an essential clinical goal in managing older adults with Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP) in long-term care and nursing home (LTC/NH) settings. Falls and fractures in this population are associated with significant morbidity, reduced quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. A recent retrospective study by Rajagopalan et al., published in a peer-reviewed journal, analyzed Medicare data to assess the risk of falls and fractures among LTC residents with PDP who were receiving continuous monotherapy with pimavanserin (PIM) compared to other atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) and quetiapine (QUE).

Estate Sale Planning

In our dedication to being approachable leaders, many of us have adopted an open-door policy. However, is it always beneficial? Our role as administrators demands a blend of addressing urgent needs and strategic foresight, which can be disrupted by a constant stream of interruptions, negatively affecting our focus and decision-making capabilities.

Research suggests it takes over 20 minutes to fully regain concentration after a distraction. It’s a tough dilemma in our field, where every decision impacts lives. How can we balance this?

ACHCA highlights member, Sherri Gunasekera, LNHA, MHA, MSN, RN-BC, LNC, and her medication aide training workshops with facility RNs and AITs. Sherri teaches the only Medication Aide program in Southwest Ohio. Her training workshops instruct registered nurses and administrators-in-training on how to start their own Medication Aide programs in their facility.

Social media is great for spreading humorous articles of all kinds, but there is a danger that some folks may take what is intended as humor and digest it as fact. A recent Facebook post by a fellow from Oklahoma was actually picked up by several news stations including at least one overseas. In it he details why it would be cheaper to live out his final years at a Holiday Inn rather than a nursing home. I’m sure that you may have also seen, at least once, a similar comparison to a cruise ship.

Can we dispense once and for all with the silly notion that living on a cruise ship or at the Holiday Inn is a viable alternative to being in a nursing home? While the premise might make for an amusing Facebook post, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

Greetings, ACHCA colleagues!

I sincerely hope your summer has been an enjoyable time for you and your communities; it seems like just yesterday that we were gathering in Orlando for the ACHCA Convocation! Although roughly four months have elapsed since that time, much has been happening with your association.

Mobile mobility, on-demand access, and instantaneous communication have forever changed how individuals interact; changing how we define “membership.” The reality is that individuals no longer join an association because it is expected as a professional; they want to know that they are spending money on something that will be of value to them.  ACHCA recognizes this shift in membership perception. 

ACHCA leadership strongly believes that a foundational part of our member’s value proposition is their chapter infrastructure. Chapters should be where our members find community throughout the year, where they can engage at a local level and often where they can hone or strengthen their leadership skills through volunteerism. 

A new year is a great time to set goals (both big picture future goals and SMART goals for the current year). Here are DRIVE's top 10 must do’s for creating and sustaining a strong culture in 2018.  (Blog reprinted with permission.)

As you navigate these first few weeks of 2018 we recommend that you sit down with your team and consider what on this list you do really well and what you need to work as a team this year. If you need help getting starting let us know. We have facilitators who can not only help lead this discussion, but they can work with your team throughout the year to help you all achieve your goals.

I believe in the sanctity of those who are older than me, and the significance of supporting them to continue writing their life’s story to the very end, regardless of where they may reside. For post-acute and aging services organizations, this requires enlightened leaders who are amply equipped to adapt their organization to fulfill each of their residents’ narratives.

In this rapidly evolving environment, I know that I can’t be successful by going it alone. I need collaboration, support, quality education and information. I also need a network of like-minded peers, who through formal and informal interactions, afford me the recognition and validation I need to stay inspired.

Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to our profession, post-acute and aging services, and began to wonder if anything we do matters.

With all the challenges from regulators, attorneys, payers, and the press, why do we do it? Not WHAT we do, or even HOW we do it, but WHY? Simon Sinek wrote an entire book on the topic, entitled, Start with Why, and spoke on it in a widely viewed TED Talk several years ago (use this link to view the original “Start with WHY” talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw).

For some reason, many leaders in healthcare like to equate things in their lobby to person-centered care. Player pianos. Coffee for visitors. Seating areas with plants. Leaders that were eager to tell me about how they are “doing” culture change have proudly presented each of these examples to me.

Pathetic.

As a blossoming leader in long-term care with a specific mission, vision and value for what I want to create for the consumers I serve, my support system is an integral part of developing and enhancing those values and that vision.

The American College of Healthcare Administrators (ACHCA) has been instrumental in the development of my mission and vision for long term care. As a student of St. Joseph’s College of Maine’s Long Term Care Administration program, I was introduced to ACHCA at the beginning of my capstone project. My professor, Philip DuBois, had strongly encouraged my membership as a not merely important part of my education, but a mission critical step in developing myself as a leader within a network of other administrators that share my values and pursuit of excellence in this particular field. 

The ACHCA Group Membership Rate offers a company or facility the opportunity to receive a reduced membership dues rate if they pay for 3 or more individual memberships at one time.

This group rate applies to our Professional, Emerging Professional, and Associate memberships.

Since January of this year, much has happened here at ACHCA!

One of the most exciting things has been the migration to a new Association Management System (AMS) that deepens the connection between members, automates many services, and provides easy access to information using one entry point: the New Member Portal.