The Beacon Institute is proud to announce it's first ever training series for assisted living managers, with classes starting September 16th. This program series is intended to respond to new Maryland regulations that require assisted living managers to complete 80 hours of training and successful completion of a test. These regs will be enforced as of August, 2009.

Beacon invites all assisted living managers (both LifeSpan members and non-members) to consider this offering as the best possible way to comply with new state rules...

LifeSpan is excited to announce that bi-monthly video newscasts will be available to members via YouTube! The idea is to provide LifeSpan members with an easy way to find out what is happening, by airing a quick overview (3-5 minutes in length) of the most important public policy issues of the day...

LifeSpan extends a warm welcome to our newest member of the association, Healthcare Services Group, Inc...

Baltimore Colts's own Art Donovan will MC the Twelfth Annual Beacon Golf Tournament at the Wakefield Golf Club in beautiful Westminster, Maryland. We are planning a great day of competitive play, refreshments and special prizes for golfers...

Would you like to discuss issues involving the draft revisions to the assisted living regulations with other providers? Would you like to discuss Maryland survey process issues and experiences with other assisted living managers and operators? LifeSpan members-only meetings will be held starting September 10th...

Medicare payment rates to nursing homes will increase by $780 million next year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today. The boost in payments is the result of a 3.4 percent increase in the annual market basket calculation of the cost of goods and services included in a skilled nursing facility stay. The price of the items in the basket is measured every year and Medicare payments are adjusted accordingly...

On July 18th, three proposed regulations were printed in the Maryland Register. The first proposed regulation was released by DHMH and relates to nursing facility service rates. The second proposed regulation, issued by DHMH, allows a licensed nurse in a nursing facility to prepare medications for residents leaving a facility for less than 24 hours...

On June 20, 2008, the Maryland Board of Nursing issued a proposed regulation that would have stated that the only nursing function that could be delegated to a certified medication technician was the administration of medication. LifeSpan submitted comments opposing this provision...

DHMH has released a draft plan for implementing the legislatively-mandated pay-for-performance program for nursing facilities. The draft plan focuses on five components: (1) Family Satisfaction Survey Results; (2) Nursing Staff Levels; (3) MDS Outcomes; (4) Staff Vaccinations; (5) Staff Training; and (6) Hiring of an Infection Control Professional...

Erickson Retirement Communities, one of the nation’s leading developers and managers of full-service retirement communities, has named BBDO Atlanta to be its first agency of record. BBDO Atlanta will be responsible for developing fully integrated communications including strategic planning, brand development, advertising, public relations, experiential marketing, digital and sales collateral materials...

On July 14, 2008, the voting membership of Baltimore Country Club overwhelmingly approved the sale of 17 acres of its Roland Park property to Keswick Multi-Care Center for the development of a proposed Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)...

On June 5, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published new regulations revising the hospice conditions of participation (CoPs). These new regulations will go into effect as of December 2, 2008. According to CMS, the revised CoPs "focus on a patient-centered, outcome oriented, and transparent process that promotes quality patient care for every patient every time." A summary of the new CoPs is below. The full text can be found at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/08-1305.pdf...

A big congratulations goes out to Christine Mour, Administrator of St. Elizabeth's, for receiving Governor O'Malley's appointment to the Maryland Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Adminstrators....