Skilled nursing facilities are in the midst of a massive push to inoculate residents and staff against COVID-19, with the eventual hope of restoring routine visitations and opening more broadly to admissions from hospitals and the community. But convincing both hospitals and family members that it’s safe to place patients and loved ones in long-term […]
After the physical health and safety of residents and workers, the prospect of normal visitation looms as the top promise of a smooth rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to the nation’s nursing homes. But operators will likely not make any moves until they’re given the all-clear by state and federal regulators, with a significant percentage planning […]
As vaccine rollouts continue at long-term care facilities, Consulate Health Care has found staff word-of-mouth critical to getting more uptake along the front lines. And like other operators, it’s seeing significant buy-in from residents. With a multi-state footprint, however, Consulate has also seen variations in how fast clinics are progressing in different parts of the […]
Newly inaugurated President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, will likely bring an uptick in enforcement and an increased focus on compliance from the agency as political scrutiny turns to long-term care facilities, where an estimated 40% of COVID-19 deaths have so far occurred. Becerra, the current […]
An accountable care organization (ACO) backed by one of the nation’s largest nursing home providers on Tuesday announced a deal to expand telehealth services to its members in a push to cut hospitalizations and boost clinical coverage — during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new agreement, the skilled nursing tech provider Third Eye […]
For one skilled nursing operator, its ethos of maintaining a strong local footprint has paid off unexpectedly in the form of facilitating COVID-19 vaccination among its frontline staff. But that facilitation wouldn’t have been possible without a focus on documenting the concerns of its workers and taking the steps to address them individually. Carespring Health […]
Vaccinating the nation’s nursing home residents is taking longer than many have anticipated, and the family members of those in long-term care settings are certainly forgiven for being impatient: Locked away from their loved ones for months on end, residents and their families see a desperately needed light at the end of the tunnel as […]
As currently constructed, bed counts form the bedrock of nursing home finances. More beds mean more chances for reimbursement, more ways to fill a need for a hospital partner, more opportunities to offset fixed expenses. But more beds also mean a greater risk for COVID-19 infection, more logistical challenges for cohorting and staff separation, and […]
When the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in skilled nursing facilities became apparent after the first major outbreak in the state Washington, dire predictions for the sector were immediate. Most of those fears, clinically speaking, were borne out horrifically over the course of 2020. But while surveys have found plummeting occupancy and significant numbers of […]
Just as predicted before the rollout began, vaccine hesitancy among nursing home workers stands as a serious barrier to widespread acceptance in long-term care — and, in turn, fully fostering group immunity among the most vulnerable. Battered by COVID-19 and unwilling to trust the institutions that oversaw the deaths of their patients and colleagues, a […]
If there’s been one recurring theme for SNN’s annual executive outlook, it’s the idea that putting 2020 to bed represents a chance to reset and move on past the worst year in the history of the post-acute and long-term space, both in the United States and around the world. But that can only happen if […]
Early in December, Concerto Renal Services announced that it was expanding its partnership with the skilled nursing provider SavaSeniorCare, with the addition of on-site dialysis treatments to a facility in Georgia. For Concerto, the partnership with Sava at the Dunwoody Health and Rehabilitation Center is the fourth such agreement between the two companies and marks […]
Nursing homes have long existed in a liminal space between acute care and senior living. The short-term rehab side of nursing care has increasingly turned into something like a mini-hospital, as both Medicare and Medicare Advantage have looked to reduce overall spending by cutting down on hospital admissions and lengths of stay — and operators […]
George Hager has retired as the CEO of Genesis HealthCare (NYSE: GEN), the nursing home chain announced Tuesday morning. Robert Fish, chairman of the board, will succeed Hager effective immediately. Hager will continue as a senior advisor to the board; Fish will remain as board chairman. “We are fortunate to have Bob step in as […]
Each January, SNN tries to predict the top trends that will sweep the industry for the coming 12 months. In 2021, the task has never been harder. COVID-19 completely wiped out the predictions we had made for 2020, a year that began with the looming specter of clawbacks related to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), […]
As the calendar turns, the post-acute and long-term health care space looks to apply the punishing lessons learned during the pandemic year of 2020. Every January, SNN rings in the new year by asking top executives from all areas of the landscape — from operators to real estate investors to therapy partners — for their […]
The year 2020 will be forever marked by a disease named for the year prior to it, especially for the skilled nursing sector. COVID-19 dominated the headlines at outlets and publications ranging from here at Skilled Nursing News up to the New York Times. In a deluge of updates and regulatory changes, keeping track of […]
Each year, Skilled Nursing News uses the end of December to look back on the stories that shaped the previous 12 months. In the past, the exercise has occasionally revealed a few forgotten surprises from the year that was, though SNN’s lists of most-read stories often have a recurring theme. For the past two years, […]
Starting New Year’s Day, payment rates for occupational, speech, and physical therapy for Medicare Part B will be cut by up to 9%. Skilled nursing facilities will have to take a hard look at these services, a ripple effect that could have big implications for third-party vendors. The cuts come on top of pivotal changes […]
There will be countless attempts to sum up the horror of COVID-19 — both in nursing homes and society at large — in the coming years, once we’re collectively a safe enough distance away from the peak of the crisis to process what we’ve seen and heard. We at Skilled Nursing News, like most people, […]