I just left the office of my good friend (and a great friend of Regency Nursing Centers) Dr. Mohamed Meleis!!
Dr. Meleis is not only a superstar at Regency Park Nursing Center, he is also my personal physician!
I took a picture with the good Doctor during my visit today.
Take a look:
So I ran 7 miles this morning with a friend. I told him I needed material for a blog entry and asked him if he wanted to be my sounding board.
He said no, thanks I’m busy!
‘Course that didn’t stop me, so I launched into what I’m sure was a terribly boring (to him) monologue on the topic of “transitional care.”
(yeah, I know, great stuff at 7 in the morning and excellent motivation for a runner, sheesh!)
The point is, in the Healthcare industry, there is an increasing desire to throw around terms like “transitional care” “acute care” “post acute care” “sub acute care” “skilled care” – etc. If these terms prove to be difficult for a professional to distinguish, imagine what the layman must feel like.
Patients in the hospital often receive “acute rehab” and are encouraged to pursue sub-acute rehab in a skilled nursing facility upon discharge. Some rehab facilities call it sub acute and some call it post acute and those “differences” are more semantic than substantive.
So what does it all mean and where does it all begin?
I think it all begins with “Transitional Care.”
Transitional care refers to a scientific model comprised of multiple components. Within the framework of transitional care, exists “acute rehab” “post/sub acute rehab” and “long term skilled nursing care.”
Simply put, patients will transition from one phase of care to another beginning with the initial hospitalization and ending with their discharge from an in-patient rehab facility to home, or culminating with their long term placement in a nursing home.
Healthcare providers are given a mandate to ensure the continuity of care during (what should be) this fluid transition. The fact is, a patients’ condition and care needs will change during the course of a chronic or acute illness.
During a transition, patients are always at increased risk for a poor outcome, if the provider(s) cannot safely steer them from the acute to post acute and skilled nursing settings. Poor outcomes, usually include a readmission to the hospital which is otherwise known as a “re-hospitalization” (a very hot button topic in our industry, as I previously blogged about here)
American Geriatrics Society defines transitional care as follows:
“For the purpose of this position statement, transitional care is defined as a set of actions designed to ensure the coordination and continuity of health care as patients transfer between different locations or different levels of care within the same location. Representative locations include (but are not limited to) hospitals, sub-acute and post-acute nursing homes, the patient’s home, primary and specialty care offices, and long-term care facilities. Transitional care is based on a comprehensive plan of care and the availability of health care practitioners who are well-trained in chronic care and have current information about the patient’s goals, preferences, and clinical status. It includes logistical arrangements, education of the patient and family, and coordination among the health professionals involved in the transition. Transitional care, which encompasses both the sending and the receiving aspects of the transfer, is essential for persons with complex care needs.”
I hope this article helps clarify some of these terms and of course, look us up at www.RegencyNursing.com for the most comprehensive transitional care available!
All of this from 7 miles running.
Imagine if I’d have gone for 15….
One of my recent pet peeves, has been the relatively new process by which hospitals (seemingly) indiscriminately decide which admissions should be placed on in-patient services and which are listed as ‘observation only’.
The difference between these two designations, is one of serious financial import and consequences for the patient.
Medicare doesn’t pay for expensive follow-up nursing home care for observation patients or the routine maintenance drugs the hospital provides patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. As a result, they can end up with thousands of dollars of medical bills that Medicare would cover if they had been admitted. Others who can’t afford the care doctors ordered may go without it, prolonging their recovery.
Furthermore, individual patients who are discharged from a Hospital to a nursing facility for in-patient rehab, can only tap into their Medicare entitlements, if they achieved an in-patient stay at the hospital for 3 consecutive nights.
Observation patients used to be relegated to the Emergency department and typically for no more than 24 hours. Nowadays, however, I’m seeing more and more instances of hospital patients who are admitted for several days in a regular room on the unit, but classified as ‘observation’ instead of in-patient.
In fact, CMS does not require hospitals to tell patients they are receiving observation services, which the IG’s analysis said can include some of the same procedures provided to admitted patients.
So what’s the deal?
The answer is that it is ALL about dollars and cents and NOT about dollars and sense.
It turns out, my concerns are well founded! In this just released investigative report conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General, it cites (amongst many other concerns) that a Medicare patients’ chances of being admitted to the hospital for in-patient services vs. observation only can depend on what hospital they go to – even when their symptoms are the same!
So where is this all going?
Lawyers at the Center for Medicare Advocacy filed a lawsuit on behalf of 14 Medicare observation patients and argued in federal court in May that observation status was created by Medicare officials and are asking a judge to order them to eliminate it.
Government lawyers want the case dismissed.
We will keep you posted!
The Regency Alliance on Senior Care is at the forefront of all of these developing stories in the world of Senior Healthcare.
For more Free Online Information and Empowering tutorials related to Senior Care, CLICK HERE
Very interesting topic making the news at the moment. At the center of it, is the Hebrew Home for The Aged in Riverdale, NY.
From Bloomberg News: July 23, 2013
The nurse was frantic. She’d just seen two elderly people having sex in a room at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, New York. She asked Daniel A. Reingold, then the home’s executive vice president, what she should do.
Said Reingold, now president and chief executive officer of the home: “We honor what remains in a person, not what’s gone.”
No one keeps track of how many of the nation’s 16,000 elderly care facilities have policies like the Hebrew Home’s. Greg Crist, a spokesman for the American Health Care Association, an industry trade group, said, “I’m not aware of anything that’s consistent.”
Click Here to read the rest of the article.
Click here for the Hebrew Home policy on “Sexual Expression.”
I paid a visit last week to the Victoria Healthcare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Matawan, NJ.
Victoria Healthcare Center has an assisted living and skilled rehab division and Regency Park Nursing Center has accepted some of their transfers in the past.
Heather Stockman is the Administrator at Victoria Healthcare and Kerry Graziano is their Director of Admissions.
In my work as part of the Admissions Department at Regency Park Nursing Center in Hazlet NJ, I am familiar with the fact that Victoria Healthcare is a subsidiary of Atrium Health, which operates post-acute rehabilitation and Assisted Living centers across New Jersey.
Because of their close proximity to the Regency Nursing Centers in Hazlet and Wayne NJ, we have admitted several of their former patients and residents.
The Atrium at Wayne Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center in Wayne NJ, is located a stones throw from the Regency Gardens Post-acute Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne.
Victoria Healthcare Center in Matawan NJ, is located a stones throw from the Regency Park Nursing and Rehab Center in Hazlet NJ.
If you, or a loved one are contemplating post acute rehab or skilled nursing care in the Wayne, Matawan or Hazlet NJ areas, please visit one of our Regency Nursing Centers for an unforgettable experience.
I have no doubt, you will choose Regency – “Where Care Comes to Life!”
Here are some pictures of Regency Park Nursing, Regency Gardens Nursing and Victoria Healthcare Center!
Last night, I visited the local City Hall to participate in a hearing dealing with issues affecting my neighborhood and community.
I looked over to my left at one point and noticed a particular woman sitting in the aisle across fom me who was totally engrossed in knitting some ugly sweater she brought with her!
She was literally sitting there with a bag of yarn on her lap and two of those big needles and she was knitting! This is a woman who I believe works for the municipality in some capacity and actually sits on the board of one of their committees!
I was shocked to the core by her blatant lack of respect for the institution.
Where I come from, YOUR RESPECT IS YOUR HONOR.
This is how I was raised at home and this is the environment I am part of in the workplace.
At Regency Nursing Centers, RESPECT is not a concept, it is a creed.
We spend a great deal of time cultivating respect for our institutions, our families and our residents. This respect is manifest in everything we do. From our formal mode of dress, to our interaction with our patients and residents, our guiding principle is to treat everyone with respect.
When we lend a listening ear to our residents, we are completely focused on what they are saying. We don`t simply listen, we internalize.
We do not converse in our individual native tounges in front of our residents. We speak in English and we are mindful and sensitive to everyone.
We take care of people and we are surrounded by people. We do not sell widgets.
We treat others as we wish to be treated.
Our families and residents do not simply love us, they respect us as well.
Why?
Simple. We love and Respect them and not superficially, but in a manner which is evident in our every interaction.
This woman ought to spend a day at any Regency Nursing and Rehab Facility, to learn about what it means to respect your institutions, let alone those around you.
`nuff said.
Have a great day!
I have a question for you.
What do Regency Nursing Centers share in common with elite 5 star hotels?
Yes, the obvious similarity is that we both pamper our customers in serene and tranquil environments.
What else though?
I was sipping a bottle of water this morning when it hit me like a kick in the gullet (usually the case when I have an epiphany).
The answer is Water!
There is magic in water and both our business models capitalize on its essence.
No, I refer not to the insipid, inodorous, colorless and smooth water in my bottle of Evian!
Actually, George Carlin famously had this to say about my indulgence:
“Ever wonder about those people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backward.”
Instead, I refer to the similarity between our stunning aquascapes at all Regency Nursing Centers and the equally beautiful setups featured at the most luxurious hotels on the planet.
I previously blogged here, regarding our aquascaping at the Regency Gardens Nursing Center in Wayne, NJ. (photos are included!)
However, this isn’t exclusive to that Regency location. Indeed, every Regency Nursing Home in NJ features the same. Check us out in Dover, Hazlet, Somerset, etc etc. ALL of our locations are lush with cascading waterfalls nestled in harmony with our manicured landscapes.
What is the magic here?
I’d like to offer my philosophy on the subject for a moment (I know, I’ve got too much time on my hands in the early mornings, but it beats counting sheep!)
Water features have been used for centuries in the landscape. We incorporate water to create strategic focal points of the landscape. Sometimes, we create a reflecting pool for a subtle and serene effect. Other times we create powerful and pulsing waterfalls to promote the beauty and wonder of its creation. In all instances, however, water provides soothing nourishment for the body and soul.
Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers also provide soothing nourishment for the body and soul, hence our collaboration with water!
But wait a second! Waterfalls aren’t the only thing we share in common with the Hilton’s and Hyatt’s of the world.
We also feature the same plethora of aquariums and flat screen tv’s!
Everywhere I go at Regency, I have beautiful salt water fish staring back at me from their comfy habitats!
..and flat screen tv’s..forget about it! They are in our resident rooms and recreation and living areas.
Check out this whopping tv in one of our recreation rooms!
Our residents actually play interactive games on this behemoth!
What can I say, Regency Nursing Centers are 5 star hotels in disguise. Our residents certainly feel that way!
I visited Monmouth Medical Center this week to look after a patient. Monmouth Medical Center is located in Long Branch, New Jersey and services the surrounding area.
A friend of mine works in the nearby Monmouth Care Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation and tells me that the community is very receptive to this hospital because of their exceptional staff of doctors and surgeons.
Our Regency Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is located about a 20 minute drive from the Long Branch, Deal and Neptune communities in New Jersey and we continue to be an excellent option for families in these areas who are looking for a stellar rehabilitation and nursing program for a loved one.
We are located right off exit 117 on the Garden State Parkway and routinely accept discharges from Monmouth Medical Center to our facility for post acute care and rehabilitation.
Please visit the Regency Park Nursing and Rehab Center in Hazlet for a personal tour!
Contact us at 732-264-5800
I had occasion today to visit the Meridian at Shrewsbury Subacute Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility in Shrewsbury New Jersey.
Meridian at Shrewsbury benefits from subacute discharges from the Riverview hospital in nearby Red Bank, New Jersey.
On my way in, a resident actually begged me for a cigarette outside the main door and right in front of a no-smoking sign. I thought that was cute (good thing I don’t smoke, so I was hardly helpful)!
I do think I’m spoiled at Regency and I’m not ashamed to admit it 😉 Our post acute care program is one of its kind in the Hazlet, Red Bank and Shrewsbury areas.
At Regency Park Nursing and Rehab right next door in Hazlet, our staff all wear perpetual smiles on their faces and are CONSTANTLY chipper! They really have no reason not to be smiling. They love Regency and Regency loves them in return. The residents and families love them and the staff love their residents and families right back – and fiercely so!
NOBODY does post-acute rehabilitation like we do!
We are AWESOME and our transitional care program is innovative and singular.
Sure it is convenient for me to say that, but the salient point is that the vaunted industry watchdog, CMS.gov, agrees with my assessment and there is no greater compliment than that!
Meridian Shrewsbury is a nice place (see the pictures below), but I’m used to nice places – after all, I live at Regency Park!
We get plenty patients from the Red Bank and Shrewsbury areas who come to us just ten minutes away in Hazlet for our unrivaled rehab program and our fantastic amenities.
If you or your loved one is in need of rehab after a stay at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, come visit Regency Park in Hazlet, NJ.
9 out of 10 people will choose Regency Park in my experience.
The 10th person will choose Regency too he just doesn’t know it yet!
“We’ll keep the light on for you” (pun not intended, since Motel 6 does not hold a candle to us).
Look who I bumped into last night!
I was visiting Bayshore Hospital last night and walked right into the good doctor.
Doctor Avtar Parhar is a good friend of mine and a good friend of the Regency Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hazlet, NJ.
Dr. Parhar practices Internal Medicine with a specialty in Pulmonary disease.
He is affiliated with Riverview Medical Center and Bayshore Community Hospital.
