PATHTalks

Quality Measures (QMs) are central to how organizations are evaluated, reimbursed, and perceived by regulators, payers, and consumers. While many leaders associate QMs primarily with the MDS department, successful performance requires a far broader, interdisciplinary approach rooted in clinical practice, documentation accuracy, and operational leadership.
At the center of this work is the MDS process, which serves as a primary source of data used to calculate and publicly report quality outcomes. Understanding how MDS assessments translate into QMs is essential for leaders seeking to proactively manage performance rather than react to results after the fact.
Strong QM performance begins with consistent, evidence-based care delivery. The MDS then becomes the mechanism through which that care is accurately summarized and communicated to CMS, states, and the public.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Pathway Health’s Director of Reimbursement and Education, Scott Heichel, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, DNS-CT, IPCO, QCP, ICC, shares his insights on the MDS process and how it impacts the management of quality measures.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

At its core, person-centered care planning is about honoring individuality, ensuring that care reflects each resident’s preferences, values, goals, and lived experience. When done well, the care plan becomes more than documentation; it becomes a guide for how care teams support a resident’s daily life.
In post-acute and long-term care, leaders play a critical role in ensuring that care planning moves beyond templates and checklists to truly reflect the person behind the plan.
Every resident enters care with unique routines, preferences, strengths, and expectations. The care plan exists so that every caregiver across shifts and disciplines understands how to support that individual in a way that feels respectful and familiar.
True person-centered planning captures what matters most to the resident: how they want to live, what brings comfort, what routines matter, and what goals they hope to maintain or achieve. Simply inserting a resident’s name into generic statements does not make a plan person-centered. Individualization requires intention, conversation, and thoughtful documentation.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Pathway Health’s Director of Reimbursement and Education, Scott Heichel, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, DNS-CT, IPCO, QCP, ICC, shares about person-centered care and balancing individualization with clinical accuracy.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 
 

Licensed nurses in long-term care carry one of the most complex and autonomous roles in healthcare today.
Unlike many acute care settings, licensed nurses in long-term care practice with significant autonomy. This autonomy is both empowering and demanding. Each shift places responsibility not only for direct care, but also for supervision, delegation, assessment, communication, and documentation across an entire care team.
In today’s regulatory and clinical environment, understanding and supporting the responsibilities of licensed nurses is a leadership imperative.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Amy Harroff, shares her insights on the role and responsibilities of licensed nurses in long-term care.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

Selecting the Assessment Reference Date (ARD) for the Medicare 5-Day and Interim Payment Assessment (IPA) is one of the most consequential decisions in the MDS process. Yet, it is often treated as a routine task rather than a strategic one. In today’s complex reimbursement environment, ARD selection directly influences payment accuracy, compliance integrity, and an organization’s ability to capture the full scope of care delivered.
Leaders do not need to be MDS experts, but they must ensure teams have the tools, education, and support to make sound decisions.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Pathway Health’s Director of Reimbursement and Education, Scott Heichel, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, DNS-CT, IPCO, QCP, ICC, shares his insights about why selecting the right ARD for the Medicare 5-Day and IPA assessments is a leadership responsibility.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 
 
#CMS #LTC #MDS #MEDICARE

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is one of the most meaningful and complex responsibilities in post-acute and long-term care. When done well, ACP ensures that residents’ values and preferences guide care decisions throughout their journey. When done inconsistently, it can lead to confusion, conflict, and care that does not align with what residents want most.
Organizations that approach ACP as a structured, integrated program are better positioned to deliver truly person-centered care. A successful ACP program begins with thoughtful implementation. ACP cannot simply be layered onto someone’s role without clarity around responsibilities, workflows, and tools. Leaders must determine who will initiate conversations, how clinical teams will support discussions, how documentation will be completed, and when conversations should occur throughout the resident’s stay. Without this level of planning, ACP efforts often become inconsistent or dependent on individual staff comfort rather than organizational standards.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Dr. Kathleen Unroe and Dr. Susan Hickman share key strategies for building a strong AP program.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

Advance Care Planning (ACP) takes on added complexity when supporting individuals living with dementia. In post-acute and long-term care settings, leaders are increasingly called upon to guide teams through conversations that balance clinical realities, resident dignity, and family emotions. ACP is not simply a regulatory requirement; it is a foundational element of person-directed care that ensures decisions align with an individual’s values as cognition and health status change over time.
As dementia progresses, the window for direct resident participation may narrow, making early, thoughtful ACP conversations essential. Organizations that approach ACP proactively are better positioned to support residents, families, and care teams during moments of uncertainty.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Dr. Kathleen Unroe and Dr. Susan Hickman share how leaders can support person-directed ACP practices that bring clarity, compassion, and alignment to care decisions.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

In post-acute and long-term care settings, few responsibilities carry as much weight or as much humanity as ensuring residents’ care reflects what matters most to them. Advance Care Planning (ACP) is not simply a regulatory requirement or a form to complete at admission. It is an ongoing, relationship-centered process that prepares residents, families, and care teams to navigate complex decisions with clarity, alignment, and compassion.
As resident acuity increases and chronic, progressive conditions become more prevalent, ACP has emerged as a cornerstone of quality, person-directed care. Organizations that treat ACP as a living process are better positioned to reduce conflict, improve outcomes, and support staff during moments of clinical and emotional complexity.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Dr. Kathleen Unroe and Dr. Susan Hickman discuss Advance Care Planning, and how organizations that treat ACP as a living process are better positioned to reduce conflict, improve outcomes, and support staff during moments of clinical and emotional complexity.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

In today’s post-acute and senior living environments, staffing pressure can push leaders toward fast decisions that feel necessary in the moment but often create long-term consequences. Vacancies, overtime, agency reliance, and staff fatigue make “quick hiring” tempting. Yet, ineffective and rushed hiring is one of the most common drivers of turnover, disengagement, and instability.
Quick hiring typically occurs when organizations feel acute pain, such as vacancies, rising agency costs, or exhausted staff. In these moments, leaders may celebrate the number of hires made rather than the quality of those hires. Filling positions without a structured plan often results in onboarding individuals who do not align with organizational values, role expectations, or the realities of healthcare work.
The result of such a hiring approach is predictable: higher early turnover, ongoing overtime, persistent agency use, and disappointment among existing staff who hoped relief was on the way. Instead of improving morale, quick hiring often sends a false signal of hope that quickly fades when new hires leave.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Clint Maun, President and Senior Partner of Maun-Lemke Consulting, shares why this practice should not be used and how to properly approach staffing.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

Recruitment may get people in the door, but retention determines whether organizations truly stabilize their workforce. In post-acute and senior living, turnover remains one of the most persistent challenges, with a significant portion occurring within the first 90 days of employment.
Bubble wrapping is a metaphor for intentionally protecting new hires during their most vulnerable period, the first 90 days. Nearly 40% of turnover in post-acute care occurs during this window, and in some organizations, that number is even higher.
Rather than assuming new employees will “figure it out,” bubble wrapping requires leaders to design systems that actively support, guide, and engage new hires from day one. When organizations successfully retain staff for 90 days, retention often extends to nine months and then years.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Clint Maun, President and Senior Partner of Maun-Lemke Consulting, shares the importance of this approach to staffing.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website. 

Workforce challenges continue to be one of the most complex and persistent issues facing post-acute and senior care leaders. While recruitment and retention are often discussed as HR responsibilities, the reality is far more nuanced. When it comes to staffing, success is not achieved through isolated efforts or siloed departments. It requires alignment, accountability, and shared ownership across the organization.
When staffing efforts are siloed, split between administration, nursing leadership, HR, and scheduling, gaps, overlaps, and miscommunication are inevitable. These disconnects drain energy and stall progress. By contrast, a cross-functional team working together toward shared staffing goals creates clarity, consistency, and momentum. Teams move faster, reduce duplication, and eliminate confusion about who is responsible for what. Perhaps most importantly, team-based initiatives generate positive energy while building trust, engagement, and sustained progress rather than burnout.
In today’s PATHTalks episode, Clint Maun, President and Senior Partner of Maun-Lemke Consulting, explores why team-based staffing initiatives are essential to long-term workforce stability and why leadership engagement at the local level makes all the difference.
Listen to more PATHTalks episodes for important hot topics information, leadership considerations and complimentary resources by visiting our website.