One of the primary factors that control salaries of long term care therapists is the reimbursement fee schedule that is established by Medicare. Basically, dollar amounts are set for various levels of care, and each higher category means a higher reimbursement rate. Therapy minutes ...

  One of the questions I get asked often is why I remain a COTA, and not further my degree to an OTR. This is a question I ask myself, and as much as the change would be nice sometimes, there are many reasons why I remain a COTA. Of course the educational factor is first. As much as I enjoy school, the things that come with it such as ...

  Healthcare reform, the economic depression, reduced insurance reimbursements, Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks, how will this affect the future of the COTA?             Some people are quite nervous right now, thinking that Obama's healthcare reform will eliminate the COTA position. ...

  Well, I must admit that talking to others with different experiences and listening to the other side of the story is one good way to learn. This past weekend my thoughts were changed on the health care reform issues, and simply by listening to another opinion from someone who sees another side of the story. ...

  Probably one of the hardest things to learn as a therapist is writing progress notes. If you're involved in long term care, then you know these are a requirement from Medicare and insurance companies. Documentation of their patient's progress is normally required at specific time ...

           News from some of the town hall meetings that have been happening around the country reminds me of the Vietnam War protests of the late 60's. Large organized groups of people protesting issues with proposed government actions. There were protesters carrying signs with defaced pictures of ...

            Well, here is Part Two of the typical day of mine. Sorry there were a few blogs between since I promised this as the next one when I wrote Part One. Issues that I thought were more important than one of my boring days got blogged about first though. ...

           No I'm not thinking about the kind you might find at a restaurant covered with barbeque sauce. What I'm referring to today is a method that many people use to transfer patients. I have always detested the transferring people this way, and swear that some day I will take any person guilty ...

         I know, kind of a sick topic for a blog, huh? However were you aware that Congress is currently discussing this topic as a part of the Health Care Reform bill? Yes it's true, now the government wants to tell us when we need to end our life and stop being a burden to Medicare ...

  Well, I see that Congress has cut another $40 Billion out of Medicare funding. That is for 2010, and over the next ten years the cuts will total $556 Billion! It sure sounds to me like PPS II is here, and it's hitting just as the baby boomer generation just hitting the age of Medicare. ...