The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) went beyond what was expected in a positive way, nursing home operators say, with the SNF final rule allowing for the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) cut to be spread out over two years and a 2.7% pay bump for 2023. Wesley Rogers, president and CEO of Brickyard […]
As the skilled nursing sector looks back at a year and a half of vaccination efforts, data has shown that mandates at the federal and state level – specifically those without a test-out option – were an effective policy tool to increase rates without contributing meaningfully to worker shortages. Initial fears of a mass exodus […]
The federal government will give skilled nursing facilities a 2.7% pay bump in their payments for 2023, according to the final rule published on Friday. This reflects a $1.7 billion increase resulting from a 5.1% bump to the payment rates for SNFs. That includes a 3.9% SNF market basket increase, a 1.5 percentage point market […]
Nursing home owners in the state of Michigan should anticipate changes to the timeliness and consistency of the state’s survey process after a bill was signed by the governor earlier this week. House Bill 5609, which was introduced in December of last year, sought to establish clearer standards for health care surveyors in the state. […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday launched its enhanced Five-Star Quality Rating System – adding weekend staffing and annual turnover to the mix. CMS began posting weekend staffing and turnover rates on Medicare’s Care Compare website in January; the agency posted how the staffing data will be weighted against other five-star […]
Some nursing home operators are increasingly finding ways to expand their behavioral health service offerings as need grows and federal oversight hones in on making such services available to long-term care residents. Kansas-based nonprofit operator Catholic Care Center, for one, has doubled down on its pioneering efforts to make behavioral health readily available to its […]
Whether it’s uttered during an interview, highlighted during an industry conference or referenced in a news release, I’ve heard and seen the word “crisis” quite often during my time reporting on the skilled nursing industry. And it’s not surprising the word has been used so frequently. Covid-19 was a global crisis that hit the nursing […]
Staff-to-resident ratios in nursing homes were confirmed to be stable or higher than pre-pandemic levels during Covid outbreaks, as declining resident census outpaced reductions in staffing. Such findings fly in the face of federal efforts to establish a minimum staffing ratio. A JAMA Health Forum study published on Friday found that facility managers were more […]
As the year so far has brought rising inflation, the looming possibility of a recession and uncertainties around staffing stability and post-Covid demand, there are still operators — like Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) — that have continued on a path toward growth. In a note previewing 2Q earnings for the health care services industry, Stifel […]
Nursing home providers could be cited by surveyors for noncompliance – and issued civil monetary penalties – as part of updated guidance tied to arbitration agreements published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This approach is subject to scrutiny and appears to contradict previous federal efforts to make arbitration readily available to […]
The federal government late last week officially renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for an additional 90 days. The extension was to be expected for leaders in the nursing home industry as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said it would give stakeholders 60 days notice if the PHE is not […]
Staff education has proven to be a big hurdle for nursing home operators seeking to recruit and retain staff, as the staffing shortage has brought many in the workforce to their breaking points and punitive monetary penalties lock operators out of creating their own education programs. Not only are resources spread thin, employees and those […]
Nursing home operators finally got a peek behind the curtain after the federal government announced an initiative to establish minimum staffing requirements back in February. In an industry stakeholder call on Wednesday, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Social Science Research Analyst Pauline Karikari-Martin said the agency is using a “multi-faceted” approach to proposing […]
The Biden administration, and its federal agencies, appear to be in lockstep in how they have been thinking and talking about nursing homes, industry leaders say, further evidenced by the latest release on the rules of participation for Medicare and Medicaid. Specifically concerning the administration’s efforts to establish a minimum staffing ratio among facilities, the […]
Guidance on staffing measures tied to the five-star rating system was released on Thursday – the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its staffing measures to include three on staffing levels and three on staff turnover. Total nurse staffing hours per resident per day on weekends, in addition to previously announced nurse turnover […]
Physicians are needed more than ever in a nursing home, industry leaders and researchers say, as the sector continues to move toward a setting with higher acuity patients. And the role may become more attractive to prospective clinicians as the post-acute care setting isn’t “tainted by bureaucracy in medicine,” according to Dr. Justin DiRezze, CEO […]
Nursing homes will continue to be under increased scrutiny by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as its pandemic-era initiative continues to keep an eye on employers with a large number of workers at risk of contracting Covid. The Revised National Emphasis Program for Covid-19 will be extended until further notice, according to a […]
While establishing stronger staffing standards for nursing homes continues to be a top priority in the minds of federal leaders, few in the industry see it as a viable or sustainable path forward. Given the current staffing climate, with the long-term care workforce down an estimated 15% since the start of the pandemic, any newly […]
Looming cuts to Medicare funding for nursing homes has garnered attention from a group of congressional leaders. Two separate letters penned by 22 senators and 18 members of the house were sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late last month, calling on the federal agency to phase-in the proposed $320 million […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday issued updated guidance for nursing home surveyors under the requirements of participation for Medicare and Medicaid, and in support of nursing home reform initiatives first unveiled in February. As providers and industry associations digested the updates, one familiar theme emerged: concern over new requirements and […]
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