An administrative law judge approved a nearly $1 million penalty against the owner of an Illinois nursing home chain responsible for the worst default in the history of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s loan program for health care facilities, the New York Times reported on Friday. Under the terms of the deal, Zvi […]
Category: Compliance
Between a new Medicare payment model and increased scrutiny on nursing home safety from the federal government, 2019 may go down as a watershed year for skilled nursing regulations. But at least one patient advocate says the government — particularly under the Trump administration — hasn’t gone far enough. Toby Edelman, a senior policy attorney […]
A class-action lawsuit challenging the Medicare eligibility rules for skilled nursing coverage will finally get its day in court this week — shortly after the administrator in charge of the program publicly questioned the status quo. The trial over the lawsuit, first filed in 2011, began Monday in a Hartford federal courtroom, according to an […]
Diversicare Healthcare Services (Nasdaq: DVCR) on Monday announced that it has reached a tentative agreement to settle an investigation into its therapy practices and other issues that had long served as a drag on its operations. “For six years, we’ve had this open investigation, but we’re now closer to having certainty on the matter,” CEO […]
Leaders at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continued their public push to improve nursing home safety and enforcement this week, laying out plans to mine data to root out bad actors — while also emphasizing that the initiative goes all the way to the top of the federal government. “This issue is […]
The federal government on Tuesday finalized a predicted funding increase for nursing homes, while also formalizing changes to several key quality programs — with an eye toward clarifying some parts of the new Medicare payment model for skilled nursing facilities. Under the terms of the 2020 final rule for Medicare skilled nursing facilities, the Centers […]
Skilled nursing facilities could see relief from regulatory burdens if a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) takes effect, and according to the agency, it could lead to millions in savings. Specifically, the rule would overhaul multiple requirements and delay the implementation of regulations related to the Quality Assurance and […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week issued yet another new proposal aimed at overhauling federal oversight of nursing homes, and the agency’s chief reaffirmed her dedication to the issue. “The Trump administration is empowering residents and their caregivers with information about nursing home safety and quality, and we’re doubling down on […]
The refrain has been nearly constant in the skilled nursing space: In order to win precious referrals in new payment models, operators need to woo hospital partners with strong data on outcomes. But a new study says all that effort might not matter much at all. A team of researchers could identify no significant changes […]
The federal government on Tuesday finalized a rule that allows skilled nursing operators to use arbitration agreements with their residents, while also proposing a new rule to reduce paperwork burdens that would delay certain aspects of the Requirements of Participation. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) struck something of a compromise with the […]
The release of a so-called “secret” list of nursing homes considered for inclusion in a program for the nation’s worst properties sent shockwaves through the industry early last month — but the man in charge of the for-profit space’s primary trade group says the sunshine is ultimately a good thing for operators. As the skilled […]
The federal government on Wednesday unveiled a new proposed payment model for certain kidney-related conditions, and several providers in the space say it could have serious potential for skilled nursing operators. Under the proposed End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices (ETC) model, Medicare would expand coverage of care for kidney diseases and offer financial incentives […]
Nursing home star ratings have been under the national microscope for a good part of the spring and summer, and a health care advocacy organization joined the fray last week by suggesting that federal regulators might need to ditch the quality measure component entirely. As currently structured, ratings on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
The gulf between self-reported and payroll-based staffing records for nursing homes continues to widen, with a new study showing a reality that vastly differs from government expectations. The amount of registered nurse (RN) coverage falls well below the standards set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for most skilled nursing facilities in the […]
A month after the last Skyline Healthcare-operated nursing homes in Massachusetts closed their doors, the state’s attorney general hit the company with multiple citations over unpaid wages and missing payroll documentation. Skyline leaders Joseph and Michael Schwartz failed to pay nearly $65,000 owed to 106 employees in a timely fashion, AG Maura Healey’s office alleged […]
Merging two overarching storylines in the nationwide coverage of skilled nursing facilities, the New York Times on Monday identified 74 properties on a list of potentially troubled nursing homes that have received federally backed loans. The facilities appeared in a previously unreleased collection of more than 400 SNFs considered for inclusion on the Special Focus […]
Despite ongoing debate about the data used to calculate the federal government’s five-star ratings for nursing homes, a new study found that higher-rated skilled nursing facilities produce better outcomes for residents. Properties with higher ratings on provider performance report cards outperform lower-ranked SNFs on a variety of metrics, researchers from the National Bureau of Economic […]
A top government watchdog and advocate for Medicare payment reform on Friday accused post-acute care providers of using mandatory functional assessments to boost payments instead of accurately recording patient needs. As part of its sprawling annual report to Congress on reimbursement issues, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) probed the differences between individual residents’ functional […]
The federal government hit skilled nursing facilities with a flurry of changes to its quality rating system earlier this year, but by diving into their own data, SNFs can pinpoint how to do better — while making the best use of their limited resources. Some key steps include scrutinizing a facility’s Certification and Survey Provider […]
The federal government’s top health care watchdog on Wednesday released a new report accusing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of not doing enough to monitor and punish elder abuse in nursing homes and other settings. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined that CMS could perform detailed analyses of diagnosis […]