PharMerica and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Partner for Monthly Podcast Series
January 27, 2022
has partnered with聽 for a monthly podcast series.
Episode 1: A Spoonful of Sugar 鈥� Empty Bed Syndrome: The Impact of Staffing Shortages
When admissions from hospitals and the community plummeted during COVID, nursing home occupancy crashed. Despite some gains in 2021, occupancy stood at 75% in September. A return to pre-pandemic rates is still far off, but the virus is no longer the only culprit. Projected financial losses are leading to staff cuts in settings already plagued by vaccine mandates and retention challenges. And fewer workers mean fewer beds. That鈥檚 because the loss of direct care workers reduces the number of residents a facility can safely admit without having quality levels suffer. In fact, nearly 60% of nursing homes are limiting new admissions due to shortages.
Speakers:
TJ Griffin, SVP/LTC Operations & Chief Pharmacy Officer, PharMerica
John O鈥機onner, Vice President, Associate Publisher/Editorial Director, 惭肠碍苍颈驳丑迟鈥檚
Guest Spotlight:
Sherrie Dornberger, Executive Director, NADONA
Episode 2: Overcoming staff vacancies by improving operational efficiency
The workforce crisis in long-term care is not a new phenomenon, but one that has been decades in the making. Regulations make it difficult for facilities to stay efficient without investing in resources to manage the overload of daily administrative work.
Long-term staffing plans are certainly worth considering, but ultimately freeing up staff from administrative tasks and introducing operational efficiencies that allow them to spend more time with patients is in everyone鈥檚 best interest 鈥� the facility鈥檚, the staff鈥檚 and the patients鈥�.
Many administrative tasks in long-term care are repetitive and tedious, which leave care teams overworked and with less time to spend on patients. With minimal investment, however, hundreds of hours can be saved while delivering better patient outcomes, lower operational costs and faster revenue recognition.
In this episode, we鈥檒l examine trends, challenges and opportunities facing long-term care leaders in skilled nursing. You will walk away with proven methods to enhance operational efficiencies while improving outcomes.
Episode 3: Bringing Health Home: The Transitional Care Management Model
The transitional care management model has been growing in popularity in long-term care as more residents seek to stay healthy at home with the person-centered support they need and several new programs allow Medicaid-funded services at home or in the community. As residents discharge from nursing homes, this approach affords facilities the opportunity to play an active role in transitional care management for those leaving and realize:
- Lower costs
- Increased medication adherence
- Reduced rehospitalization rates
- Improved clinical and quality outcomes
- Continuum inter-referrals
- Value-based upside
- Enhanced referral relationships
In this episode, we鈥檒l explore the influencers that support this transitional care model and how facilities can take steps to capitalize on the growth of care at home to impact their census, financial penalties, and outcomes.
Episode 4: Setting the Record Straight on the White House’s Nursing Home Reform Package
Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) AHCA/NCAL, recently sent a letter to Congressional Leadership requesting additional resources for long-term care residents and staff. In it, he outlined the current state of the industry:
- The quality of nursing home care was increasing over the past decade, specifically thanks to initiatives where federal regulators and providers were working together.
- The rhetoric surrounding last week鈥檚 White House announcement was disappointing and demoralizing to an already beaten down health care sector.
- During the COVID pandemic, nursing homes were not prioritized by public health officials for resources and the lack of a coordinated, federal response enabled high spread in the general population that ultimately led to nursing home outbreaks.
- President Biden鈥檚 plan does not address the chronic underfunding of Medicaid or offer meaningful support to help nursing home providers meet increasing requirements. Until policymakers properly invest in long-term care, nursing homes will continue to struggle, and more facilities will have to close their doors 鈥� limiting access to care for potentially millions of elderly Americans.
In this episode, we鈥檒l hear from Mark Parkinson firsthand on his specific request to have Congress take additional steps to ensure the safety and protection of America鈥檚 most vulnerable. You will walk away with a better understanding of how these measures would help invest in the frontline caregivers our nation鈥檚 seniors need, so they continue to have access to high quality, long-term care. Read the full .
Episode 5: How operators can find the best way – or ways – forward
An unprecedented pandemic has challenged providers in almost every conceivable way. Operational costs rose, occupancy levels dropped and staffing shortages became the new normal. Faced with these and other challenges, providers have responded by becoming resourceful and innovative as never before. But the sector鈥檚 work is far from complete.
Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL)聽AHCA/NCAL, will discuss new strategies聽that can help long-term and post-acute care professionals聽drive the industry forward as well as the sentiments behind them:
The strategies include:
1.聽聽聽聽聽The need to explore vendor partners and local presence
2.聽聽聽聽聽Implementing a transitional care management program
3.聽聽聽聽聽Deepening relationships with ACOs
4.聽聽聽聽聽Investing in specialty care services (Dialysis, ventilators, etc.)
5.聽聽聽聽聽Launching an ancillary business (Home health, pharmacy, etc.)
6.聽聽聽聽聽Institutional Special Needs Plan (I-SNP)
In this episode, we鈥檒l hear from Mark Parkinson firsthand on growth opportunities and strategies your organization can embrace. These insights will help providers not just survive, but thrive in the years ahead.
Episode 6: On air, and on your side
From staffing and regulatory issues to the many challenges DONs face in long-term care, NADONA, 惭肠碍苍颈驳丑迟鈥檚 and PharMerica surveyed nurses to 铿乶d out their biggest concerns in 2022. We鈥檒l address them all during our live podcast event.
In this podcast, we will discuss the topics nurses told us are their top challenges, including important trends that are, or will be, affecting you, your facilities, and your residents. We know keeping educated about and on top of these issues is a constant challenge for DONs and Nurse Leaders. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e here for you with solutions to the top concerns you face daily. You have a voice with us!
Episode 7: More MDS coordinators are walking the floor. Is that a costly mistake?
MDS coordinators are usually responsible for two core duties: monitoring care quality and maximizing payments.
But as staffing 
challenges worsen and regulations increase, more MDS coordinators are taking on a third responsibility: walking the floor. Is this a reasonable job extension? Or an unfair demand? Moreover, might facilities that adopt this practice be leaving money on the table? In this Spoonful of Sugar podcast, two of the nation鈥檚 foremost nursing experts will address the pros and cons of this emerging trend.
Episode 8: Rising Costs and the Need for Growth, Part 1
For the past two years, operators have had to deal with higher costs brought on by COVID-19. Now comes the highest inflation rates seen in more than four decades.
In episode 1 of this two-part Spoonful of Sugar podcast, you will hear from industry legend Robert G. Kramer as he talks through the impact of higher operating costs in this sector.
He鈥檒l dig into the diverse new pressures operators are coping with, and will discuss why the new normal promises to be very different indeed.
Episode 9: Rising Costs and the Need for Growth, Part 2
Industry legend Robert G. Kramer returns to the mic in our latest podcast. In this second episode in our 2-part series, he discusses the rise of innovative housing and care options for seniors, from intergenerational living to personalized, customized experiences.
Episode 10: Innovative Care Transitions Make Life Better for Everyone
Amidst the excitement and energy of the American Health Care Association鈥檚 (AHCA) 2022 Convention & Expo, innovation was in the air 鈥� but nowhere more than at the live Spoonful of Sugar podcast.
惭肠碍苍颈驳丑迟鈥檚聽Editorial Director John O鈥機onnor hosts Arif Nazir, MD, Chief Medical Officer of 海角社区, and PharMerica鈥檚 TJ Griffin, PPH, to discuss how Continue Care鈥檚 transitional care model integrates seamlessly into a facility鈥檚 discharge planning process to extend care management into the home. This program offers a dynamic set of services that promote medication therapy optimization and nurse-practitioner led care to partner with facility staff.
Episode 11:Working smarter, not longer: Overcoming staff vacancies by improving operational efficiency
Staffing shortages and high turnover rates are constant challenges across the LTC sector. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has only made things worse. Nursing facilities have lost nearly a quarter million employees during the current pandemic.
Given the direct correlation between staffing levels and adverse outcomes 鈥� including increased mortality, hospitalizations, and ED visits 鈥� how can facilities improve the safety and quality of care when workers can鈥檛 be had?
Episode 12: Psychotropic stewardship can be the cure to stepped-up audits
CMS plans to increase psychotropic drugs oversight 鈥� to include targeted audits. These stepped up efforts follow the latest updates to the State Operations Manual surveyors started using October 24, 2022, which include unnecessary psychotropic use, misdiagnosis related to antipsychotics, and gradual dose reductions of these medications. Nursing facilities are not yet required to have a psychotropic stewardship program. But adopting one can preempt regulatory action while promoting the appropriate use of these medications to improve outcomes, reduce adverse events, and drive a higher Five-Star rating.
Podcast hosts hosts聽John O鈥機onnor, Vice President, Associate Publisher / Editorial Director, 惭肠碍苍颈驳丑迟鈥檚,聽and聽TJ Griffin, RPh, SVP LTC Operations & Chief Pharmacy Officer, PharMerica,聽discuss the importance of implementing a psychotropic stewardship program to prevent headaches, problems, and control costs down the line 鈥� and get a leg up if CMS decides to mandate such an initiative.
Episode 13: The long-term benefits of short-stay care management
At Viviant Healthcare of Murfreesboro, located in rural TN, 25% of residents are short stay. When they leave, Lisa Lugo, Director of Social Services, worries. Lacking transportation makes it hard for many to fill prescriptions. Some in need of pain medications can鈥檛 get an appointment with a pain clinic for days. Others return home and don鈥檛 follow up with their healthcare providers.
Without support, residents may experience health mishaps that land them back in the hospital. To avoid these complications, Lugo opted to take part in a pilot program for Continue Care, a suite of services from PharMerica designed to help keep patients healthy at home. It worked: the rehospitalization rate for Viviant during the pilot was 10%, a significant improvement over the average rate among SNFs of 23%-31%.
And residents weren鈥檛 the only ones who benefitted. By eliminating manual processes and calls or faxes to the pharmacy to get prescriptions filled, Continue Care saves a lot of staff time and frustration and frees caregivers up to spend more time with residents. Plus, with a three on/three off schedule, there鈥檚 no risk of orders falling through the cracks between shifts.
Hear firsthand from Lugo when she joins hosts John O鈥機onnor and TJ Griffin along with PharMerica鈥檚 Bill Deane, whose team operationalized the program, to discuss her facility鈥檚 previous processes that prompted her to adopt Continue Care and the positive impacts it has had on outcomes and her team alike.