Provider is distributed to more than 52,000 administrators, directors of nursing, owners, and operators of nursing, assisted living, and post-acute care facilities. Providermagazine.com is the online counterpart to Provider. The new website launched in September 2011 with myriad new features, including breaking news, guest columns, and videos. This means that the prospect of getting an article published on the website is more likely than in print.

Submission Guidelines

• Articles should not be educational about a vendor company’s specific products, technologies, or services. Rather, vendors are advised to write about industry trends or current and potential industry challenges. Industry forecasts and predictions that are backed by data and quoted expert opinion are also of interest.
• Provider’s purpose is to give long term and post-acute care professionals practical, solutions-oriented information they can use to improve the quality of care and management in their facilities and communities. Articles should be concise and to the point. In general, contributing writers are encouraged to use examples and brief anecdotal stories to support their points.
• The tone of Provider articles, both online and in print, is serious and helpful, though not academic.
• Articles should run 1,000 to 1,200 words and must be written in the third person. In other words, authors should not address readers as “you,” or refer to themselves as “I” or “we.”
• Authors are welcome to submit photos, charts, graphs, and other visuals to accompany the article, which will be used at the sole discretion of the editor.
• Photos should be high resolution (300 dpi for a 4" x 6" photo) and accompanied by release forms for any residents or staff who appear in the photos.
• Articles should be accompanied by the author’s name, title, educational degrees, e-mail address, and phone number. Upon acceptance, the article becomes the property of Provider and is subject to copyright ownership by Provider. 
• Provider editors reserve the right to refuse to publish an article. 
• Writers are welcome to submit an outline or rough draft of the article to the managing editor for feedback. Any “pre-approval” by one editor does not guarantee that the final article will be accepted for publication.
• Editors prefer to work with material that has not been formatted. Please do not bold or italicize any words or phrases. Please do not create any special symbols, such as bullets, to itemize lists.
• Editors will make reasonable attempts to contact the author for review and approval of substantive changes to the article.
• Once the article is published, authors may receive two copies of the magazine. Every attempt will be made to honor requests for additional copies.

10 Tips For Getting Your Article Published:

1. Remember that Provider is an informative professional development tool. Nearly every item included in the magazine and online is designed to give long term and post-acute care professionals information, ideas, tips, and advice that will help readers improve themselves, their skills, and their programs. News and reports about facility activities and programs should be presented in the context of innovation and practicality. If the item is not particularly new, different, or instructive, the information may not be suited for Provider.
2. Review several issues of the magazine. Consider where your information would best fit. If it’s about an innovative program that successfully reduced falls in your facility, it would most likely be suited for the Caregiving column. Other columns include Legal, Management, Finance, and Human Resources. We also publish feature articles.
3. We are always looking for timely articles for our regular Technology in Health Care feature. However, these submissions may be a little trickier to publish. Because HIT is relatively new to long term care, there are many proprietary products out there that are clearly relevant to our readers. For the most part, however, we cannot publish product or company names in this section.
4. Submit your article idea or outline to the managing editor before submitting the entire article. This will help you get a better idea of how relevant your topic is and if it needs a new angle or “hook.” Let us know what makes your idea special or unique, what information you would include in the article, and how it would help long term and post-acute care professionals.
5. Review the contributor guidelines document (above). Please stick to the guidelines as much as possible.
6. Be aware of our deadlines! We begin our issues immediately after the previous one is closed—usually about seven weeks prior to the issue’s mailing. The deadlines are usually on the third Friday of the month that falls two months prior to the issue. For example, the deadline for submitting manuscripts to the September 2011 issue was July 25.
7. Have patience. The magazine has a small staff, and we do our very best to get back to you in a timely fashion.
8. Feel free to submit relevant videos for our website. Although this may not be on the priority list for a facility administrator or owner, be aware that we love to publish good, hi-res photos and informational videos. Perhaps you could get your corporate office’s public relations department to send a photographer or purchase a good camera or flipcam. The photos or videos should illustrate your facility’s innovative activity, clinical program, or exciting event.
9. Unfortunately, we cannot publish all the news and information we receive. There are many, many interesting activities happening in facilities across the country. Again, because we have a small staff, we cannot cover them all. If a particular item you submit is rejected, please don’t let that stop you from submitting something else that might be a better fit! 
10. Give us your feedback. We encourage our readers to give us their opinions on the articles that appear in the magazine. Did you like a particular piece; was it helpful? Do you have an opposing view? What would you like to see more of? Less of? Do you have a list of topics that you’d like to see covered in the magazine in a future issue? Let us hear from you!​