Citing research showing lapses in staffing and care quality, a think tank on Friday released a report calling on Congress to ban all private equity investment in nursing homes. The Roosevelt Institute specifically asked lawmakers to subject all nursing home transactions to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval in order to weed out “private equity […]
Category: Compliance
Nursing homes with the highest profit margins were significantly less likely to be cited for infection control violations between 2017 and 2019 than their less profitable counterparts, a new study has determined. Among facilities in the top quintile of profitability over that span, 7.6% were cited for infection control violations in all three years, as […]
The federal government on Tuesday clarified that fully vaccinated staff members at nursing homes do not have to submit to routine COVID-19 testing, though both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents and workers must still receive tests if they show signs of infection or in the event of an outbreak. “Upon identification of a single new case […]
It could be the next major trend in long-term and post-acute care, with benefits for both residents and operators: downsizing bed counts to better match demand and provide higher quality care. Masonicare, a non-profit health system based in Connecticut, became the latest operator to make headlines with a plan to relinquish beds at its skilled […]
The federal government cracked open another window toward pre-COVID normalcy in nursing homes on Tuesday with new guidance approving communal dining and activities for fully vaccinated residents. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) stressed that the new guidance only applies if every person in the dining or activity room has been fully vaccinated […]
While short on specifics, President Biden’s top spokesperson last week indicated a desire to move forward on nursing home reform efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s no question from the president’s standpoint [about] the impact on seniors that we’ve seen happen in facilities around the country, especially in the early days of […]
Even before the pandemic, executives at onehome saw opportunity in developing a robust rehab program that could provide a skilled nursing facility level of care at home. The Miramar, Fla.-based home health provider and convener partners primarily with managed Medicare insurers, with limited traditional fee-for-service Medicare or Medicaid business lines; instead, onehome opts for risk-sharing […]
A review of data from Chicago nursing homes found that fully vaccinated residents and staff accounted for just 4% of COVID-19 infections recorded since the start of the federal vaccine rollout, with just a single resident death — and no secondary transmission within facilities. The findings, published by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention […]
Even before the pandemic, American Health Partners saw growth potential by expanding beyond a core of skilled nursing facilities. The Franklin, Tenn.-based firm operates 29 SNFs through its American Health Care arm, but it also provides a wide range of other services, from home health and hospice to psychiatric care to a nurse practitioner organization. […]
Despite a 90.4% resident vaccination rate, a nursing home in Kentucky suffered a COVID-19 outbreak that resulted in 44 resident infections and three deaths after an unvaccinated worker contracted and spread the virus, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) determined in a new report released Wednesday. Despite the fact that the outbreak was […]
The federal government on Thursday announced a proposed 1.3% boost to nursing home Medicare reimbursements for fiscal 2022, while also raising the specter of a potential adjustment to the new Patient-Driven Payment Model. That increase from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) works out to a total gain of $444 million, according to […]
Starting in January 2022, nursing home operators in New York will be required to return all profits in excess of 5% to the state — while also spending set percentages of revenue on specific care categories — under a new budget deal reached this week. “Now, more than ever, it is important that nursing homes […]
In the days before the full onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. in 2020, the federal government announced that it was reorienting all nursing home inspections to focus on infection control. The announcement on March 4 directed all inspections of skilled nursing facilities to focus on compliance with the Centers for Medicare & […]
The federal government last week began recovering the extra Medicare payments sent to nursing homes and other health care providers during the initial height of the coronavirus crisis last year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2020 doled out more than $100 billion in cash to Medicare-certified providers under the Accelerated and […]
A international group of 95 investment firms with holdings in post-acute and long-term care companies on Thursday called on the industry to bolster care and raise wages for frontline caregivers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the sector recovers, and we reflect upon the damage to our societies and the loss of human […]
President Biden on Wednesday proposed a $400 billion plan designed to significantly bolster Medicaid coverage of long-term care outside of institutional settings, marking the first concrete step toward achieving a central campaign promise to support caregivers and expand access to home-based care. Pitched as part of a $2 trillion infrastructure package dubbed “the American Jobs […]
The COVID-19 emergency overturned nursing home operations overnight in almost every respect, notably with regard to the provision of clinical care. And according to a panel of physicians who work in the nursing home setting, some of those changes should stick around, even after the public health emergency finally comes to a close. Namely, they […]
For the second time in as many weeks, federal lawmakers scrutinized private equity investment in nursing homes as the probes into the COVID-19 disaster in long-term care continue to intensify. “How many grandmothers and grandfathers died because profits were prized above lives, with our taxpayer dollars funding this?” Rep. Bill Pascrell, who chairs the House […]
The COVID-19 vaccination clinics that started rolling out in late December brought swift, substantial drops in infection and death rates in nursing homes, but a new report warns that it’s far too soon to declare victory over the virus in post-acute and long-term care. In fact, 437 nursing facilities across the country reported their very […]
Vaccine hesitancy among nursing home and senior living workers has substantially declined since the first shots received emergency approval last December, according to a new industry survey. About 62% of post-acute and senior living workers polled by software firm OnShift indicated that they would be willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, up from 32% in […]