A rising tide of civil lawsuits related to deaths from Covid-19 are being filed in New York against not only top state officials, but also nursing homes, as family members seek legal recourse. According to a report in the Times-Union newspaper, these cases have proceeded slowly as pre-trial arguments have focused, in part, on whether state […]
A staggering number of nursing homes reported challenges in meeting the care needs of their residents during public health emergencies and natural disasters due mostly to inadequate staffing, with transportation, communication and infection control and prevention also being among key areas hampering these efforts. This is according to the latest report issued Wednesday by the […]
A Place for Mom has announced the launch of Nursinghomes.com, marking the debut of the online referral giant in the nursing home sector. The company aims for the new website to become a “one-stop-shop” for families, putting vital information at their fingertips for evaluating and contacting skilled nursing and long-term care facilities quickly, according to […]
The issue of formally requiring patient surveys for nursing homes, similar to surveys mandated in other segments of health care, has long been a source of debate – one getting stirred up again after federal policy makers decided to nix patient satisfaction measures from the recently issued final prospective payment rule for 2024. The Centers […]
Ventas (NYSE: VTR) plans to shed Skilled Nursing Facilities worth about $63 million that are part of its Santerre Health Investors acquisitions. The Chicago-based real estate investment trust (REIT) announced plans to sell the SNF assets in the midst of efforts to raise capital and pay down debt, the details of which Ventas shared in […]
National Health Investors (NYSE: NHI) posted a bumpy second quarter pressured by rent collection, but executives said the company continues to eye deals with expectations to announce new investments in 2023 as economic conditions are beginning to favor a “buyer’s market.” “[Tenants] are struggling in this post pandemic era, which introduces variability to our quarterly […]
Investments for CareTrust REIT (NYSE: CTRE) proceeded at a steady pace in the second quarter of 2023, and there’s still room for more growth backed by sufficient capital on hand. “We are going into the second half of the year with ample dry powder to continue to grow the business and set up the company […]
As the nursing home sector nervously awaits a potential federal minimum staffing mandate, several states are implementing similar mandates of their own, with New York issuing initial letters of violation of state policy this week. According to nursing home advocates, New York’s Department of Health sent out its first set of letters to nursing home […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule Monday that updates Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System for fiscal year 2024. The federal agency estimates that the aggregate impact of the payment policies in the latest rule would result in […]
Nursing home administrators succeeded at meeting minimum staffing standards during the pandemic, but their crisis management practices came with financial and emotional costs, suggesting that policy makers need to rethink staffing regulations and increase sources of governmental funding for more persistent labor solutions. These are the combined findings of two JAMA studies released on Tuesday. […]
In the aftermath of issuing a series of action plans, the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition – a national coalition of 120 nursing home stakeholders – held a meeting Wednesday to share more details about the action plans to improve quality in nursing homes, with providers present saying that the coalition’s work is a […]
A national coalition of more than 120 individuals and organizations focused on nursing home reform released a series of action plans on Tuesday, outlining ways to improve nursing homes over the next 12 months. The Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition released several action plans to enhance quality of life for residents and working conditions […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to reduce payment for physician services under the fee schedule compared to last year, the federal agency announced late Thursday. The reductions would affect the provision of therapy in nursing homes. Indeed, the proposal represents a “significant cut” that will put nursing home “providers in […]
Congestive heart failure impacts a large chunk of the nursing home population and is a particularly difficult condition to manage, often resulting in a high number of rehospitalizations. And yet while nursing home providers look to promising new solutions, the efforts to put them into widespread use are stymied by staffing problems. More than 6 […]
The Medicare Advantage preauthorization process and denials of care are a growing concern across the continuum, and nursing home operators and advocates — as well as federal lawmakers — are pushing more urgently for change. Such concerns are not new, and already some action has been taken: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) […]
Nursing homes facing an increased risk of local wildfires in the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest regions had deficiencies in emergency preparedness, while reinspection for these facilities also lagged. This is according to a new study published on Monday in JAMA Network Open. The study evaluated whether nursing homes that are at elevated risk of […]
Optum, the diversified care delivery arm of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), has reached an agreement to acquire home health giant Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED), which provides skilled nursing facility-at-home services via Contessa Health. Optum emerged as a suitor for Amedisys earlier this month, after the home health giant had previously announced a deal to combine with […]
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been steadily increasing at nursing homes, as the technology begins to deliver on its promises to improve efficiencies in a wide variety of areas, from clinical outcomes to back-office work. And while ChatGPT is the attention-grabber these days, natural language processing is but one of the ways AI is […]
It’s no secret that temporary staffing agencies have been both a boon and bane for the nursing home industry, providing necessary but very costly labor during the pandemic. Staffing problems have persisted long enough in the post-Covid era to warrant their use, but pricing practices have led to an outcry and push for state regulation. […]
In 2019, there were about 46.6 skilled nursing facility stays per 1,000 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries on a national basis. That’s according to data released Monday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), on the utilization of skilled nursing facilities among beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. The data also showed there were about […]
Subscribe
Receive industry updates and breaking news from SNN.