MedPAC: SNFs, Other Post-Acute Providers Base Assessments on Payments, Not Resident Need

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 […]

How Skilled Nursing Facilities Can Win Under the New Five-Star System

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 […]

OIG Calls on CMS to Crack Down on Abuse in Nursing Homes, Other Settings

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 […]

CMS ‘Just Getting Started’ on Nursing Home Oversight Amid ‘Secret’ List Controversy

The federal government on Wednesday again defended its work to regulate and punish underperforming nursing homes, as the controversy surrounding a “secret” list of troubled skilled nursing facilities entered its third day. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) chief medical officer Kate Goodrich confirmed a Tuesday report that the agency will soon begin releasing […]

CMS Could Release Monthly List of Special Focus Candidates After Senators’ Report

Federal officials could soon begin releasing a previously undisclosed list of underperforming nursing homes targeted for potential inclusion in the Special Focus Facility program, SNN has learned. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) roster of “candidates” for Special Focus Facility status became public on Monday, when a bipartisan pair of senators released the […]

Senators Release ‘Secret’ List of Troubled Nursing Homes Considered for Special Focus

A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators on Monday released a previously undisclosed list of more than 400 nursing homes under consideration for placement on the federal government’s roster of properties with serious quality issues. The list, furnished by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), consists of “candidates” for the Special Focus Facilities (SFF) […]

CMS Hints at ‘Calling Out’ Nursing Homes Over Quality Problems

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) official last week suggested that the public would benefit from more information about resident safety at nursing homes — including the explicit identification of bad actors. Writing in response to a November study about the correlation between Nursing Home Compare star ratings and safety, CMS chief medical […]