With reporting from Tim Mullaney and Zahida Siddiqi With the number of nursing home beds in decline across the United States — and providers large and small divesting of facilities, exiting the industry or shutting down completely — some organizations are finding ways to grow. Expansion is one theme uniting this year’s skilled nursing providers […]
Like many markets across the country, the Twin Cities in Minnesota are confronting a reduction in skilled nursing beds, which is forcing patients to remain in hospitals for longer periods of time — with skilled nursing-at-home gaining momentum as a solution to these discharge pressures. “The average length-of-stay on the hospital side is eight days […]
A recent government report identified that nursing homes in 17 states are underprepared for extreme weather emergencies. The report’s findings were backed by a series of independent watchdog audits, which reported that short-staffing at facilities and the state agencies that oversee them is linked to inadequate preparation for such emergencies. Legislators have called for nursing […]
The net increase of Medicare Part A payments by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was generally welcomed by nursing home providers and analysts, who said the federal agency seems to be empathetic in mitigating the impact of inflationary pressures confronting the nursing home industry. On Monday, CMS proposed its payment rate update […]
The federal government on Monday proposed its payment rate update to skilled nursing facility (SNF) reimbursements for fiscal 2024, which includes a net increase of 3.7%, or approximately $1.2 billion, in Medicare Part A payments to SNFs. No updates were issued on staffing minimums. That rate increase from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]
The latest version of the MDS Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) manual released early Monday contains “substantial revisions,” according to a statement issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In keeping with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act), the new draft includes standardized assessment items that need to […]
The process of hiring immigrant workers for the nursing home industry – from start to finish – looks like a grueling task for operators, but leaders in the industry say it’s the closest to a ‘silver bullet’ we have to meeting the staffing crisis. Such a long-term investment is marred by glacial immigration processes, and […]
The number of skilled nursing patients receiving dialysis services in the nursing home setting is increasing — and the shift may be having positive health outcomes while opening up important revenue streams to providers. However, some industry professionals are concerned that greater scrutiny by federal agencies over on-site dialysis could have the consequence of increasing […]
On the heels of warnings about the spread of deadly fungal infection of Candida auris, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now raising alarms about widespread resistance against antimicrobial drugs — with long-term care settings particularly at risk of some resulting “superbugs.” Medical experts and government agencies are cautioning that unless the use of antimicrobial […]
Chief financial officers of skilled nursing facilities are increasingly collaborating with the front line while paying close attention to key operational metrics. Such evolutions in the role are crucial, given immense financial pressures caused by the skyrocketing cost of care and low Medicaid reimbursement rates. CFOs in the space would do well to collect real-time […]
After years in which Medicare policy and Covid-19 drove more hospital referrals to home health, skilled nursing facilities recently have seen referrals surge, thanks to a variety of factors. Referral trends through January 2023 showed a jump in patients sent to the nursing home while at the same time rejection rates for home health agency […]
At the heart of successful new hiring programs backed by nursing homes across the United States is the philosophy that nurses deserve better pay, free training, a guaranteed job, and an easier path to career advancement. State-level initiatives from Hawaii to the Midwest are gaining traction by allowing workers to train for specialized positions while […]
Skilled nursing facilities have been receiving higher-acuity patients, with respiratory failure and pressure ulcers among the conditions being seen more frequently at admission. And while some operators have become adept at caring for these conditions, they are concerned that reimbursement rates are not keeping up with costs of more advanced care. The proportion of SNF […]
Imagine a nursing home resident with dementia falls and needs surgery, but there is no one to approve the care plan or foot the resulting bill, putting the nursing home in a bind. The responsibility usually falls upon family members, but given the increasing trend of an aging population without kin, this situation is becoming […]
Skilled nursing operators are dividing into two camps — those that are willing to take risks in order to innovate, and those that are highly focused on insulating their enterprise from risk. At least, that’s what Cascadia CEO Owen Hammond thinks. And he believes that the future of the industry depends largely on how boldly […]
Given increasing complexities in payment systems and intensifying financial pressures, more nursing home providers are hiring leaders with a specialized and sophisticated focus on reimbursement. Even smaller operators are seeing the value of these positions, which demand a mix of financial and clinical acumen, and a C-suite mindset. Valerie Taylor, for one, became a corporate […]
As acuity rises in the long-term and post-acute care settings, nursing homes and hospitals are in greater competition for nurses. Nurses may have in the past preferred to work in the traditional hospital setting for the chance to apply their clinical skills in more sophisticated ways, and for higher salaries. But an increase of residents […]
A Congressional advisory body on Wednesday put forth recommendations for closer assessment of nursing facility Medicaid payments, including whether they are sufficient to cover costs of care. The proposals could allow for a finer tuning of Medicaid rates and therefore could benefit the sector, as long as they do not put greater administrative costs and […]
The high renovation costs associated with adopting new rules for room occupancy limits are forcing some operators to close their doors, as was recently the case with Northeast Health Group in Massachusetts. Many of these vulnerable facilities, built in the 1960s and 1970s and designed for three to four residents per room, are already in […]
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has sent capital markets reeling and raised concerns about longer-term impacts to the banking sector and overall economy — and adds one more unwelcome variable to the skilled nursing financing outlook. “It’s not like we were in a market where money was flowing from the banks like it […]
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