Navigating Payment Reform

By 2018, 90% of Medicare payments will be tied to quality, and your performance now will seriously affect your future reimbursements. If you don’t participate in a variety of value-based programs in 2016, your practice will face up to 9% in penalties.

In this free guide, you’ll learn:
• The myriad of value-based reimbursement programs, and when to expect penalties
• 5 ways to best prepare for this major change

 See how athenahealth’s cloud-based services protect you from penalties and
help you bank every incentive dollar you qualify for.
See demo

 get your free PQRS guide 

CMS' proposed discharge changes would hit home health agencies - Modern Healthcare Modern Healthcare business news, research, data and events

CMS' proposed discharge changes would hit home health agencies - Modern Healthcare Modern Healthcare business news, research, data and events: By Virgil Dickson | October 29, 2015
The CMS is proposing a massive overhaul of the discharge process for hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and home health agencies. The latter would likely be hardest hit, facing an annual cost of $283 million, the agency says.

Under the proposed rule, providers would be required to develop a discharge plan within 24 hours of a patient's admission or registration, and would have to complete that plan before the patient is discharged home or transferred to another facility.

The change would apply to all inpatients and some outpatients, including patients under observation status; patients who are undergoing surgery or other same-day procedures where anesthesia or moderate sedation is used; and emergency department patients who have been identified by a practitioner as needing a discharge plan.

23 Ingenious Uses for White Vinegar | Care2 Healthy Living

23 Ingenious Uses for White Vinegar | Care2 Healthy Living: 23 Ingenious Uses for White Vinegar

The Hidden Casualties of Alzheimer's - Dating Dementia

The Hidden Casualties of Alzheimer's - Dating Dementia:

The Hidden Casualties of Alzheimer’s by Nancy Wurtzel on October 28, 2015

{article snipped}

Caregivers Benefit From Time Away 
Many caregivers try to do everything for their loved one, without taking a break. In the long run, if you insist on shouldering the entire load, you are setting yourself up for disaster.

Look into joining a support group. These groups can connect you with people who are facing similar circumstances. It is surprising how much you can benefit from connecting with others who are traveling a similar path.

Alzheimer's, dementia, memory loss, aging, caregiving  Establishing a system of support will help caregivers through the ups and downs of a lengthy caregiving journey. Ask siblings or other family members to help with caregiving and divide up tasks to lighten the burden. If finances allow, look into hiring a paid companion or caregiver. Respite care options are not becoming more common in communities throughout the U.S.

Plan for the future since Alzheimer’s and similar degenerative brain disease are progressive.

None of us can go through life without help. When you need an electrician, for example, you hire one. When you can’t move a piece of heavy furniture by yourself, you ask a neighbor or a friend for help. When you need help figuring out medical and legal options, you turn to a professional for assistance.

When you need a break from your caregiving responsibilities, there is no shame in turning to others.

Hey, EHR vendors: What took so long on interoperability? - Modern Healthcare Modern Healthcare business news, research, data and events

Hey, EHR vendors: What took so long on interoperability? - Modern Healthcare Modern Healthcare business news, research, data and events: Hey, EHR vendors: What took you so long on interoperability? And other letters
By Modern Healthcare | October 24, 2015
Regarding the recent article “Top EHR vendors agree to interoperability metrics”, if vendors had focused on this from the start, we could be avoiding all this catch-up now.

Add to the mix the industrywide presence of staffers, administrators, IT folks, physicians and other caregivers who don't really understand HIPAA's limitations (please stop discussing patients in the hallway) and/or its freedoms (disclosure for continuity of care is absolutely allowed). The lack of understanding has added to this mess.

Another layer comes in the form of restrictions that were meant to hinder inappropriate access, but instead they have hindered patient care (a doctor with privileges at a hospital needs a patient record, but can only see patients assigned to the said doctor; if assignment is missed at registration, the doctor can't see the patient's records).

HIPAA itself is nearly 20 years old. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act adds clarity, but the medical community depended on the tech community to get us into this brave new world and in many ways it failed us with proprietary stands on sharing information and platforms. They knew their customers were barreling toward this moment and instead of communicating then, they dragged their feet until the outcry for interoperability became too loud to ignore. I don't want to pat them on the back. I want to ask them, “What took you so long?” Also, “How much are you going to charge me for all the upgrades I'm most assuredly going to require?”


Brette E.M. Williams
Marketing director
Everest A/R Management Group
Gainesville, Fla.

Healthcare consumers aren't price shopping, and that's not surprising - Modern Healthcare Vital Signs | The healthcare business blog from Modern Healthcare

Healthcare consumers aren't price shopping, and that's not surprising - Modern Healthcare Vital Signs | The healthcare business blog from Modern Healthcare: Blog: It's not surprising that medical consumers aren't price shopping
By Harris Meyer | October 22, 2015
How viable is it for Americans to price-shop for healthcare services, which economists, policy pundits, and insurance officials constantly urge them to do?

Vox healthcare reporter Sarah Kliff recently shopped for a better price for her own care. She discovered a predictable glitch. You may be able to find a lower-priced provider. But unless you're a medical expert, there's no guarantee you'll get quality that's equal to or better than the higher-priced provider.

That confirmed my worries about the healthcare shopping process. I'm currently facing a similar shopping dilemma.

Kliff sought a lower-priced magnetic resonance imaging test for a slow-healing stress fracture in her foot. Her orthopedist referred her to an academic medical center for the scan. Her health insurer called her and suggested that she switch to a freestanding imaging center that would charge the insurer about $400, half the academic center's price. Kliff would have paid the same $50 copay either way. But she liked the idea of reducing health system spending, so she had the scan done by the cheaper provider.

Sure enough, her orthopedist had difficulty obtaining the image from the MRI provider she went to, which wasn't among the usual centers he works with. So there was more work for the orthopedist's office staff, and Kliff had to wait half an hour in the doctor's office while they tracked down the images and report. Then the doctor found the image blurry, compared with the “much clearer” images he gets from the academic center.

In retrospect, she wishes she hadn't selected a provider based on price. “The lower-cost procedure… did indeed save my insurance plan money,” she wrote. “But it created a worse medical experience for me, and was helpful in highlighting the trade-offs that patients must make in the shopping experience.”

A Google Group | Advocates-For-Patient-Focused-Friendly-Hospitals -

Advocates-For-Patient-Focused-Friendly-Hospitals - Google Groups: About Group
Group name
Advocates-For-Patient-Focused-Friendly-Hospitals
Description
Conversations concerning the many needs of strangers to hospitals, emergency departments, emergency rooms and the mind boggling array of finding their way around the hospital. Guidelines how to manage patient confusion, fear, cognitive issues including dementia and Alzheimer's.

About | Let's Talk about Dementia a blog hosted and supported by Alzheimer Scotland

About | Let's Talk about Dementia

  Let’s Talk about Dementia, a blog hosted and supported by Alzheimer Scotland and led by our allied health professional colleagues.

Let’s Talk about Dementia was
set up following on from Scotland’s Dementia Awareness Week 2014 (2–8
June) which focussed on the theme “lets talk about dementia”.

Dementia is frightening. Talking about it helps us make sure that
nobody faces dementia alone and through this blog we want to keep the
country talking about it.

Allied Health Professionals

“I think people with dementia could benefit from the ‘hidden treasures’ of allied health professionals.

A dementia carer

Let’s Talk about Dementia will
share the work and practice of the allied health professionals in
relation to dementia care. It will offer advice for people living with
dementia, their carers, partners and families – focussing on topics that
range from diet and physical health to keeping engaged with your
community or remaining at home for as long as you would like. This blog
will also be a source of information for other health and social care
professional colleagues.

Let’s Talk about Dementia will:

• Cover a range of topics and offer practical ideas, hint and tips
• Share allied health professionals’ knowledge and expertise
• Share links to useful resources
• Share the work of Alzheimer Scotland
• Share resources that you may not be aware of
• Allow you to engage with us, share resources and discuss issues.

So let’s keep talking about dementia: at home, at work, in the street
and on the bus, in cities, towns and villages across Scotland! Enter
your email address in the right side menu and we’ll let you know when a
new post has been published.

Thank you.



Elaine Hunter
Allied Health Professional Consultant, Alzheimer Scotland
@elaineahpmh 

The End Of Memory: A Natural History Of Alzheimer's And Aging, Hardcover Book

The End Of Memory: A Natural History Of Alzheimer's And Aging, The Hardcover – International Edition, December 30, 2014 
by Jay Ingram (Author)

About the Author

JAY INGRAM was the host of Discovery Channel Canada’s Daily Planet from the first episode until June 2011. Prior to joining Discovery, Ingram hosted CBC Radio’s national science show, Quirks & Quarks. He has received the Sandford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute, the Royal Society’s McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science and the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and engineering Research Council. He is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Alberta, has received five honorary doctorates and is a member of the Order of Canada. He has written eleven books, most of which became bestsellers.

    Hardcover: 304 pages
    Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; First Edition edition (December 30, 2014)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 1443435767
    ISBN-13: 978-1443435765

 Customer Reviews
Five Stars
By Terry Shore on May 4, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Very Informative and easy to read.

HighRiskProcedures

www.LeapfrogGroup.org/HospitalSurveyReport Predicting patient survival of high -­‐ risk surgeries Despite breakthroughs in surgical safety, some amount of risk will always exist. But for many high -­‐ risk surgeries, choosing where to receive care can mean the difference between life and death. Given its potential impact on the health and well -­‐ being of employees and their families, the quality of surgical ca re is also critically important to employers . Paying for surgeries through employer -­‐ sponsored health insurance plans , these employers want nothing more than their valued workers back on their feet.

 The Leapfrog Group, a national employer -­‐ driven nonprofit watchdog organization, asks hospitals to report their performance each year and makes this information public, so health care consumers and purchasers can use it to compare hospitals and make the best choice for surgical care. The Leapfrog Hospital Survey focuses on four specific surgical procedures because they are both common and high -­‐ risk, and the survival rates for these procedures vary widely across hospitals. Leapfrog calculates predicted survival rates, by hospital, for each type of surgery.

Car keys mean freedom, Taking away keys tough but ...

News - newsjournalonline.com

What You Need to Know

Taking the keys away from a parent or loved one with Alzheimer's, dementia or similar diseases can be difficult. Here are tips to make the task easier:

WARNING SIGNS

· They forget how to locate a familiar place and get lost.
· They fail to observe traffic signals and signs.
· They become angry and confused while driving.

HOW TO LIMIT DRIVING

· Ask a doctor to write a "do not drive" prescription.
· Have them tested by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
· Offer to drive or arrange other transportation.
· Have someone the person respects and trusts recommend they stop driving.
· Park the car on another block or in a neighbor's driveway.
· Hide the car keys or disable the car by removing the distributor cap or battery as a last resort.

BE PREPARED

· If the person wanders, he or she can get lost while driving, so register them in the Alzheimer's Association's Safe Return Program. Call 1-888-572-8566 or go online to alz.org and click on "medic alert + safety center" on the right-hand side of the home page.

SOURCE: Alzheimer's Association

Teepa Snow demos 10 ways to calm a crisis with a person living with Alzheimer’s / dementia

Teepa Snow demos 10 ways to calm a crisis with a person living with Alzheimer’s / dementia: Teepa Snow demos 10 ways to calm a crisis with a person living with Alzheimer’s / dementia
Teepa Snow calms crisis no video
When people feel trapped and terrified, they get agitated, anxious, and sometimes aggressive.

It’s normal behaviour for human beings to lash out when they feel threatened, whether they have dementia or not.

Unfortunately, many people who care for people living with dementia (PLWD), including family, friends, healthcare personnel and caregivers, blame this normal behaviour on the disease rather than finding and addressing the real underlying causes.

More often than not, something in the environment or in the way the person with dementia is being treated or approached prompts the aggressive behaviour, which is in fact a perfectly normal response to something the PLWD may perceive as a threat of some kind.

In the video below, dementia care pioneer Teepa Snow tells the story of de-escalating a situation in which an 89-year-old woman with dementia became violent when care facility staff and EMS personnel tried to get her onto a gurney.

On Christmas Eve 2012, I found myself in the midst of a similar crisis with my mother. At the time, I had no idea what to do. I have since seen others in versions of the same scenario; it’s clear they either don’t know what to do or if they do know what to do they aren’t doing it.

Instead of blaming the PWLD and the disease and then “drugging them up” as Snow says in the video, we need to learn how to:

1) prevent crises from happening in the first place

2) de-escalate them if and when they occur despite our best efforts

Here are 10 ways anybody can use to calm a crisis in which a PLWD becomes distressed and/or aggressive:

Remove the threat
Create space
Get on her/his side
Get at or below eye level
Use “hand under hand”
Breathe in sync
Calm your voice
Relax your body
Attend to her/his needs
Be willing to go where he/she is

Learn how to put the tips into practice by watching video with Teepa Snow:Teepa Snow?s videos are available on Amazon

TechByter Worldwide | You Need a Password Manager, Manually Coding Websites with Brackets, Short Circuits, and Spare Parts

TechByter Worldwide | You Need a Password Manager, Manually Coding Websites with Brackets, Short Circuits, and Spare Parts: You Need a Password Manager

There are free password managers and ones that you pay for. Some of them have extra features you'll find useful. Regardless of the features and regardless of which one you choose, the important point is to choose something.

Web browsers can remember your login name and password for sites that you visit often, but storing passwords in a browser is considered a security risk. The browsers are getting better, but I still prefer to use a separate password manager because it will work with all browsers. I use at least 2 browsers every day and sometimes 4. Storing passwords in all of them and keeping the passwords updated sounds like more work than I want to do.

For the past several years, I've used the paid version of LastPass. Before that, I used the free version for a while. Even earlier I used KeePass and, in ancient history, PINS. There's no shortage of these applications.

One of the more interesting applications I've seen recently is Password Safe. It stores login data in a password-protected, encrypted file that you unlock when you need access to the stored information. Password Safe has an Auto Type feature that will log you in to sites and applications automatically. A default Auto Type action exists, but this can be customized for every application or site that you use. Some sites, particularly bank sites, use non-standard login procedures that cause automatic logins to fail.

Password Safe is somewhat more difficult than most to use, though, in part because the documentation appears to have been written by the person who wrote the program. That's never a good idea because the developer makes too many assumptions about what a user will know. As a result, it took several tries and more than an hour for me to import 400 passwords into Password Safe.

The primary shortcoming, though, is the fact that there's no option to store passwords on-line. There is a thumb-drive option, meaning that you must always have the thumb drive with you. And, of course, you could store the file on Google Drive or One Drive.

The customization possible with Password Safe is impressive though, and this might be the right application for more geeky readers. You can download it from SourceForge and, as of this writing, no additional applications are included.
Why You Need a Password Manager

Every website you visit that requires a password should have a unique password. I have to admit that I don't live up to my own admonition. I use the same password on several sites that I consider trivial -- ones that contain no financial information, for example. But my passwords are both unique and complex for non-trivial sites such as banks, website management, corporate e-mail, client data, and the like.

If you're looking for a free password manager, LastPass is my recommendation for most people. It has a remarkable number of features for a free application. The paid version (more about that in a bit) adds a few useful features for just $1 per month.

During the installation process, LastPass will offer to import all of the passwords you have stored in your browser. The fact that LastPass can do this is a pretty good indicator of the (lack of) password security in browsers. You will also be asked if you want to turn off password storage in the browser. The right answer is Yes.

KeePass is another good free password manager, but it has the same shortcoming that I mentioned with PasswordSafe: There's no on-line storage. If you use only a single computer, don't have a smart phone, and never need access to password protected sites from public computers, KeePass is a good choice.

OIG alert hints at increased scrutiny over health IT data blocking - Modern Healthcare Modern Healthcare business news, research, data and events

OIG alert hints at increased scrutiny over health IT data blocking - Modern Healthcare Modern Healthcare business news, research, data and events: OIG alert hints at increased scrutiny over health IT data blocking
By Lisa Schencker | October 8, 2015
A federal watchdog group sent out an alert this week about information blocking and potential violations of the anti-kickback law (PDF). Some experts say the Office of Inspector General alert hints at the agency's growing concern about the issue. The document reminds providers that, normally, they may donate information technology or software to potential referral sources, such as a physician practice, under a safe harbor provision of the anti-kickback statute. But if the donor uses those donated items to limit the use, compatibility or interoperability of other electronic health-record systems, then the safe harbor no longer applies.Paula Sanders, chairwoman of the healthcare practice group at Post & Schell, said the alert hints that the agency is trying to combat data-blocking.

Chris Cooper and Company - Why Palliative Care Matters When You're Facing a Serious Illness

Chris Cooper and Company - Why Palliative Care Matters When You're Facing a Serious Illness: There's a widespread perception that palliative care is just like hospice care—that it's only for people in their final months of life, seeking pain management and comfort after they've exhausted treatment. While palliative care definitely serves these types of patients, it is much broader, offering ongoing, comprehensive help for anyone with a life-threatening, chronic, but not necessarily terminal, illness.

In fact, palliative medicine is so extensive that it's not uncommon for people to use it, undergo treatment, get better and no longer need it. And with an estimated 90 million people in the United States living with a serious illness—a number that is expected to double in the next 25 years as baby boomers age—the need for palliative care will likely skyrocket.

How Palliative Care Helps

With palliative care, how long a person may live is almost irrelevant; the illness itself matters. Palliative care:

Takes a holistic approach
Palliative care takes a three-pronged approach to wellness: body, mind and spirit. Many palliative care programs feature dieticians, social workers, spiritual advisors—even massage therapists. Because palliative care is designed to improve the overall quality of life, studies show that it has significant mental health and life-lengthening benefits. One study by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that lung cancer patients had less depression and lived almost three months longer than patients who chose to forgo it.

Works in tandem with treatments
When undergoing treatment, from chemotherapy to surgery, patients are encouraged to seek out palliative care, regardless of predicted illness outcome. In fact, many health care providers urge patients to seek out care as soon as they get a diagnosis. One theory is that patients under stress have poorer treatment outcomes. With a palliative care approach focused on reducing stress and improving well-being, some patients become more resilient in handling treatment.

Can last for years
Most hospice care is for people who have six months or less to live. Palliative care, on the other hand, may be used for years. When patients have a serious illness, along with a disease like diabetes, they may undergo ongoing palliative care to maintain a healthy diet and control blood sugar. Some palliative patients drift in and out of care, using it when necessary, while others stay within a program throughout a long-term illness.

Fluffy robot seals comfort dementia patients in nursing homes - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Fluffy robot seals comfort dementia patients in nursing homes - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): Queensland researchers have been granted more than $1 million to begin the world's biggest study into the effects of animal-like robots on dementia patients.

The PARO robot, a 2.7kg soft, fluffy baby harp seal, has showed promising results - calming agitated and distressed patients during a small pilot study last year.

Each seal can learn its own name, has unique facial features and can show emotions such as surprise, happiness and anger.

Professor Wendy Moyle from Griffith University says with the number of dementia patients expected to double in the next 20 years, finding new treatments is critical.

June Roberts with 'paro seal'

Posted
19 Nov 2013, 10:05pm

Robot companion: Dementia patient June Roberts with a PARO seal at a Pinjarra Hills nursing home in Brisbane.

Feel closer with voice and video calls

Free internet calls with Skype-to-Skype calls

Free calls It’s what Skype is made for.

Using Skype to call another person who also has Skype is totally free. Yep, absolutely nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch

You’ve downloaded Skype, and so has your friend. Now you can get started on the really cool stuff – such as making completely free and great quality calls from your computer. That’s the great thing about Skype, you can use your internet connection and turn your computer into an internet phone and make free Skype-to-Skype calls.

You and your friend will need to have a headset (or use your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers) to talk to each other. You can really improve the sound quality of your calls with a headset, or take your calls to the next level with free video calls.

You can also use Skype to make terrific value calls to phones and mobiles.

Coach Broyle's Playbook alzheimersplaybook.pdf

alzheimersplaybook.pdf
Loads PDF file for reading on your browser now:

This “Playbook for Alzheimer’s Caregivers”
is a social model, not a medical model (doing things with her, not for her).
It was written to give you practical tips to help guide you in taking care of your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease

Frank Broyles

University of Arkansas,

Available from Amazon | Coach Broyles' Playbook for Alzheimer's Caregivers: A Practical Tips Guide

How Can Alzheimers and Dementia Caregivers Deal with Difficult Behavior | Alzheimer's Reading Room

How Can Alzheimers and Dementia Caregivers Deal with Difficult Behavior | Alzheimer's Reading Room: It takes two people to argue and the caregiver has the ability to not argue where the person who has Alzheimer's will not have the same amount of self control.

I have found it most helpful to say things like "you are right, you don't need help but I will feel better if I help you"; things like that but with as few words as possible. Too many words causes confusion.

As for the negative "words and attitude", you will have to let this kind of roll off your back.

Her ability to comprehend "negative words vs positive words" may be very diminished and Alzheimer's causes the person to lose the ability to have empathy in relation to others in the same way you and I can understand that our words and actions effect others either positively or negatively.

The negative behavior is generally not a purposeful behavior but for some folks it is a long term habit of negative thinking.

Where they used to have the internal filters and control to not say the first thing on their mind they now don't have those filters and you never know what might come out!

Examples of this are people beginning to use curse words when they never have before in front of their loved ones and now they use very colorful language.

Rapid changes in her mood, going from happy to sad to angry in a flash of eye can be very difficult to understand. It is called "labile" behavior and it is a loss of emotional control.

The key here is to match your response with the emotion that she is exhibiting. She may not realize that she is acting like she is "angry" or "sad". So if she is "angry" about something you can say "I'm sorry I made you angry". Or, "sorry that made you angry I'll make sure that doesn't happen again" (I've accepted responsibility for many many many things that I had nothing to do with over the years but at that moment you can see the person's face lighten and the "mood" will change.

The labile behavior is not necessarily caused by anything in the environment it simply causes rapid mood swings. There are some medications that may help for mood stabilization.

I am not an advocate for use of medications unless absolutely necessary.

It is not comfortable for the person who has Alzheimer's to go through their days angry, upset, anxious, or frightened.

If it was me who had the illness and if everything else my family has tried to help me live in good moments has not worked and I was still anxious most of the day and night and frightened...I would tell the doctor "give me something...I am miserable".

I hope this information helps you and your mother along your journey.

Jennifer Scott has been in healthcare since 1984, working with a variety of people with disabilities. She has delivered numerous speaking and educational presentations about Alzheimer’s disease and how to care for those suffering with dementia.

metal_in_microwave

metal_in_microwave - metal_in_microwave.pdf:

MICROWAVE COOKING INNOVATIONS
YOU CAN USE METAL IN A MICROWAVE OVEN
by Seth Levinson 8 Stratford Circle Edison, New Jersey 08820 -­‐ 1830 (908) 756 -­‐ 6829

Imagine, you open your microwave oven door, to take out a freshly baked pie, and find the paper pie plate burning fiercely, ignited by the baked crust. Pie crusts brown and paper ignites at the same temperature. You cannot bake or brown in a paper or plastic container that burns or melts at baking and browning temperatures.

You CAN bake a pie and brown food, in a microwave oven, in a metal container. When metal is used in microwave cooking, the results of gas and electric cooking are obtained.

Neither special food packaging nor special formulation of ingredients are required to cook food when metal is used as part of the cooking container in a microwave oven Some foods that can be cooked in a microwave oven with the aid of metal are cake, two crust pies, cookies, rolls, biscuits, fruit turnovers, pizza pie from scratch, breaded frozen items such as fried chicken and fried shrimp, rare and medium steaks and hamburgers. MICROWAVE COOKING REQUIRES PROPERLY DESIGNED METAL COOKING UTENSILS Properly -­‐ designed, metal cookware uses to its advantage metal's ability to reflect both microwave energy and infrared heat energy off of its surface. Metal's special ability, both to shield the bottom portion of a food from direct microwave radiation and to focus microwave radiation on the top crust of a food can be used to advantage. A metal pie plate is useful, in reflecting infrared energy and microwave ene rgy off of its bottom and side surfaces. When using the metal pie plate a large proportion of either the electric oven's infrared energy or the microwave oven's microwave energy must enter the pie through its crust. Because the majority of energy enters th e pie through the top crust, the top crust browns. Metal can end the undesirable drying of thin peripheral and end portions of meat. Metal is more heat conductive then glass, plastic or paper. Food, heated within metal cookware, designed for microwave coo king, will be more evenly heated. Glass breaks and melts, paper chars and burns, and plastic melts and burns. Burning plastic and burning paper emit noxious fumes. Only metal can cook at the browning temperature required to achieve the browning results exp ected by the consumer.

Amelia has reduced "knowledge worker" staffing from 76 to 32 . At one media client

Amelia is IPsoft's artificial intelligence platform Computerworld | Oct 10, 2015 By Patrick Thibodeau| Meet IPsoft's Amelia IPsoft's Amelia is more interesting than Apple's Siri. Amelia's language is expressive. Her facial expressions and gestures are generated on the fly. Siri can show wit to an oddball question, but Amelia aims for empathy. At one media client, IPsoft claims, Amelia takes 64% of its calls, and has reduced "knowledge worker" staffing from 76 to 32. It has an ability to understand things in context and engage with the listener. Most importantly, Amelia is real enough to take your job.

Siri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri Wikipedia Siri /ˈsɪri/ is a part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, watchOS and tvOS which works as an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator. The feature uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services.

Scammed? How to complain if you are a victim of fraud on the Internet.from http://aruljohn.com/

Have you been scammed or do you know someone who has been scammed? Did you send $500 to someone by Western Union or Moneygram only to have him disappear? Did you try to help out a prince or widow who was thrown out in a coup and has a billion

Here is a list of resources you can use in order to bring the scammer to justice.
United States

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Email: spam@ftc.gov
Phone: 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)
Online complaint form: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
Email them and send copies of your transactions (including emails with headers). Send a CC to 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov if it is a Nigerian scam email.

FBI/Internet Crime Complaint Center
Phone: (800) 221-4424
Online complaint form: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

FTC - Identity theft
More information: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/defend.html

National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch
Phone: 1-800-876-7060
Report form: https://secure.nclforms.org/nficweb/nfic.htm

Contact Local Police and let them know of the whole story, however embarrassing it may be.

GPS SmartSole now available / The Unforgettable Blog • Unforgettable.org

An Unforgettable™ announcement - GPS SmartSole now available / The Unforgettable Blog • Unforgettable.org: A GPS shoe insole tracker could be just the solution needed for the huge challenge of wandering in people with dementia
This week saw the arrival of the GPS SmartSole by US wearable technology company GTX Corp available for sale via Unforgettable.org.

It’s an innovative insole which can be used to unobtrusively monitor your loved one and allow you to find them should they become lost. The insole contains global positioning satellite (GPS) technology and has a battery life that lasts 2-3 days to ensure lasting safety between charges.

The technology lets you create ‘geozones’ around a specific address or addresses so the person wearing the insoles can move around the zone, but if they leave the area, you can be alerted via an app on your phone (available for both IOS and Android) or through text or email.

The problem of wandering
According to a 2013 World Alzheimer's Report from the US:
• 60% of people with Alzheimer’s will become ‘lost’ at least once.
• 70% of those will become ‘lost’ three or more times.
• 46% of wanderers not found within 24 hours may die.

In many cases, although it may appear that the person is simply ‘wandering’ around aimlessly, they’re often trying to get somewhere for a specific reason, it’s just that the reason doesn’t quite tie in with where they should be at that current time. It’s why it’s often called ‘walking with purpose’. However, wandering can put the person in danger, and it’s essential that you find them as quickly as possible.
The inspiration for Smart Sole

The idea behind the insole came about from a famous missing persons case in the United States. In 2002, a 14-year-old girl called Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her parent’s house while the rest of her family slept. Luckily, she was found nine months later – alive – and her abductors were caught and brought to justice.

However, it gave Patrick Bertagna, chief executive of GTX, the idea of developing a GPS device that would have made finding Elizabeth much easier and faster.
He started developing a shoe that contained GPS technology in it. However, it was in 2007 when he was approached by Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University, and an expert in senior housing issues and technology for the elderly, that they realised that the area where this would be of most benefit was in helping to locate people with degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, who had wandered off.

The Navistar SmartShoe,
which had GPS trackers embedded into the heel, was developed under license. The SmartShoe was version one, and like most new technologies, version two – the SmartSole – came out a few years later. The added benefit was that individuals with dementia were unlikely to forget to leave the house with their normal shoes, ensuring the tracker stayed with them for longer.

HIPAA eBook Download | HIPAA Compliance | OnRamp onr.com

HIPAA eBook Download | HIPAA Compliance | OnRamp: HIPAA eBook

The top 3 HIPAA violations could be happening under your watch.

1. Inadequate Tracking of Media
2. Inadequate Security
3. Inadequate Policies

If you deal with ePHI, you must comply.

FREE HIPAA eBook tells you how

medicare.gov find-a-plan | Plan compare, quality and performance

Plan Quality and Performance Ratings: Plan Quality and Performance Ratings
Star Rating Description
5 stars  Excellent
4 stars  Above Average
3 stars  Average
2 stars  Below Average
1 star   Poor

Choose Plans to Compare

When you choose 3 plans to compare, quality and performance information will be available to help you make the best choice for you. Quality and Performance varies across plans. Giving good quality care means doing the right thing, at the right time and in the right way to get the best results possible.

17 Things To Remember If Your Loved Ones Have Dementia | LinkedIn

17 Things To Remember If Your Loved Ones Have Dementia | LinkedIn: 17 Things To Remember If Your Loved Ones Have Dementia

Scientific American Health After 50 Alerts

Guide to Understanding Dementia

FREE Understanding Dementia Guide and Scientific American Health After 50 Memory Alerts

Enter Your Email Address

Finding and joining a Google group

Find a Google group

Groups usually have a name that indicates the subject of the group, such as "cooking" or "music." To find and join a group:

1. From the Home screen, type a subject, such as "cooking" in the search field.
2. Press the Search button. A list of groups and messages is displayed.
3. Click on a group name, such as "Live music." The Topics screen appears displaying a series of topics.
4. Click on the 'Join group' button. The Join group dialog box appears. 
5. Fill in the options on the Join Group dialog box.
6. Click the Join this group button. You are now a member of the group.

An open group is configured to grant you immediate membership. A restricted group requires approval from an administrator before you are added to a group. A private group requires you to click on a link to request membership from the owner.

Note: Google cannot intervene in the approval process for private groups. Contact the group owner if you need your approval expedited.

Someone just bought your smart home. Did they get your data, too? | PCWorld

Someone just bought your smart home. Did they get your data, too? | PCWorld: The new checklist is designed to help consumers make sure they're ready to move, and the NAR will use it to inform its members so they can help their clients.

The first tip on the OTA checklist is to make an inventory of all the connected devices in the house, as well as all the manuals, websites and vendor contacts that go with them. Next, residents should review the privacy and data-sharing policies associated with those devices.

The next step is critical: Getting confirmation from whoever's moving out that they no longer have administrative or user access to any of the devices in the home.

Then the list recommends sending new ownership and contact information to manufacturers; changing usernames, passwords and access codes; and making sure all the devices have up-to-date software.

That last step could save you from a home-security disaster. Hackers who take advantage of a vulnerability on one device could find their way into everything else on the home network. While a house with that kind of security hole may be very connected, it's not a smart home at all.

Pleasantries Adult Social Day Services

Pleasantries Adult Day Services - Home Page

Pleasantries is an Adult Social Day Services program located in a comfortable residential home at 195 Reservoir Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Pleasantries has beautiful views where guests can enjoy nature by taking walks, fishing, gardening, and having a picnic with their peers.

Moving Aging Family Member into Your Home .. sure?

Joy Loverde addressed Moving Aging Parents into Your Home on the EldercareABC Blog

Joy's information is applicable if you were to substitute "Aging Parents" with Brother, Sister, In law, Relative. What can start as a loving arrangement can turn very sour as we age and what was done on a handshake is hammered by fading memories, assumptions, and unforeseen changes in the needs of everyone.

Verbal contracts are bound to be regretted. After you read Joy's excellent article do not do anything until you have had a family meeting with a elder affairs attorney and review every point she raises. Then put the results in writing with signatures of the principles and your attorney. There is nothing so difficult as a house guest who comes to live in your home without a written agreements, who won't accept consequences of lifes changes, your health needs, your needing to relocate, selling your home and all the emotional, financial and other dynamics of living together.

Don't skip any of Joy's questions or suffer the consequences. They are available on line.

Dave Mainwaring.
--
Moving Aging Parents into Your Home Are you sure?
Sep. 17th, 2009 By Joy Loverde

"When times are tough, like they are now, sometimes well meaning caregivers of aging parents insist that their parents Moving aging parents, eldercare, senior helpmove in with them without full consideration of what can happen. The most serious stories include elder abuse and neglect, the fastest growing crime in America today. The arrangement of sharing one’s home with aging parents often stirs ambivalent feelings for everyone involved."

"We mean well when we ask our loved ones to move in with us; but we may not realize the potential negative consequences – emotionally, financially and otherwise. For example, if parents move in and contribute to the cost of remodeling the house to accommodate their needs, do they gift their portion of the house to the caregiving child? How do siblings feel about this financial arrangement? Should parents have a contract in which they pay the children for caring for them? How does this living arrangement affect a person’s eligibility for Medicaid?"

"I’d like every caregiver who is currently thinking about this under-one-roof lifestyle for them and their aging parents to take a deep, deep breath and proceed cautiously and slowly. If you have already exhausted the multitude of senior-housing options I offer in my book, The Complete Eldercare Planner, and you have made the decision that combining households is the best option, then promise me before anything else that you’ll take a family consensus as the final checklist before the move."
--
She is 1000% on target when she said:
The arrangement of sharing one’s home with aging parents is not for the faint at heart. If you succeed, you are beating the odds!

Elder Care Manager| Social Worker Advocate | Northampton, MA 01060

Elder Care Manager| Social Worker Advocate | Northampton, MA 01060:

Background:
{Q}A New England native and UMASS Amherst School of Business Alum, Liz completed her Master in Social Work degree at New Mexico State University while enjoying the culture of the Southwest in 2000. After graduation, Liz and her family returned to Massachusetts and she began her professional social work career.

As in most things in life, one relationship connection always leads to another. Her position as an Emergency Room Crisis Clinician for Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield led her to Medical Social Work at Baystate VNA & Hospice which ultimately led her to Anchorage Nursing Home in Shelburne. During this time, Liz also worked on-call for the hospital’s social work & discharge planning department.{EQ}

As you navigate the road ahead

When there is a change in circumstances, such as a change in housing, a change in medical or cognitive status, or the loss of a spouse.
When families live at a distance and have a hard time engaging local services or uncertain about the future.
When you are trying to decide what the best options are for an elderly relative, a person with disabilities, or for yourself.
When your loved one has been hospitalized, has had a dramatic change in health, or is refusing care.
When a care crisis triggers old conflicts and disagreements among family members.
When anxiety, depression, dementia or Alzheimer's disease is in the picture.

Charting the course...

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)
Licensed Nursing Home Administrator,
Certified Advanced Social Work Case Manager (C-ASWCM),

Liz, first will provide a thorough objective assessment of you and your loved one's needs. With my recommendations, we then develop a comprehensive and manageable plan of care and set reasonable goals. Using extensive knowledge of the medical, psychological, cognitive, social, and spiritual challenges of illness, disability and aging - Liz often identifies & incorporate resources previously unknown.

Liz works together as a team to implement an appropriate care plan careful to balance individual needs, values, and preferences with what is both realistic and possible.
-----------

Liz Kapitulik, LICSW, C-ASWCM
Clinical Geriatric Social Worker & Care Manager

serving Northampton and surrounding towns in Western Massachusetts.

Phone:   (413)387-9474
Fax:       (413)634-5643
Email:    Liz@Eldercarewiz.com

Dealing with Incontinence, products

Discover information and advice for caregivers of those with incontinence - TENA

What would you like to know about caring for someone with incontinence?

Understanding and discussing bladder weakness can be the first step to successfully managing it. So we’ve pulled together some useful information to help you and your loved one get incontinence into perspective and under control.

Product Finder

42 U.S. Code § 1396r - Requirements for nursing facilities | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

42 U.S. Code § 1396r - Requirements for nursing facilities | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute: 42 U.S. Code § 1396r - Requirements for nursing facilities
{Q}
A nursing
facility must have identical policies and practices for transfer,
discharge, and services, regardless of source of payment. 42 U.S.C.
§1396(c)(4). In (Massachusetts) state law prohibits nursing
homes from discriminating based on a person’s source of anticipated
payment. 940 CMR 4.03(1).

Medicaid reimbursements to the nursing
home will probably be lower than if you privately pay, but the nursing
home cannot require a resident to waive their right to Medicaid
benefits.{EQ}

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396r

Loosing contact, personal letter is a thing of the past

The personal letter is quickly becoming a thing of the past - The Boston Globe

Last lines
As the longtime practice of writing personal letters by hand to family and friends is quickly becoming a thing of the past in the age of cellphones, text messaging, and e-mails, Globe writer Milton J. Valencia sat down and penned his own letter to the lost art.
By Milton J. Valencia
Globe Staff / September 20, 2009