Less than 10 days ago, the Chateau Nursing & Rehabilitation facility in the suburbs of Chicago was in an incredibly difficult position: One day after 22 residents were initially confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus, the number of cases climbed to 46, according to local news reports. With long-term and post-acute care providers well […]
The danger that COVID-19 poses to residents in the skilled nursing setting was well-documented in the fallout from an outbreak in a facility in the state of Washington. But as cases mount and hospital beds fill up, health officials across the country are starting to indicate that SNFs need to be ready to take patients […]
The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that was approved late Wednesday in the Senate includes $200 million in funding for a federal push to bolster infection-control efforts in the nation’s nursing homes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has placed infection control at the center of its emergency nursing home inspection protocols, suspending […]
Therapy providers were partially included in the federal government’s attempts to waive restrictions on various health providers amid the coronavirus, but some experts say this recent round won’t enable sufficient virtual care for nursing home residents — and also doesn’t decrease the risks therapists are experiencing on the ground amid the pandemic. An expanded telehealth […]
As both the chief medical officer for Signature HealthCARE and president of AMDA, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, Dr. Arif Nazir has a micro- and macro-level view on how skilled nursing facilities are fighting the coronavirus. And even in these early days of the crisis, Nazir believes that the sweeping emergency steps […]
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued recommendations for skilled nursing facilities on preparing for COVID-19 — and told them to prepare to receive and care for residents with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infections. The all-facilities letter (AFL) sent on March 19 tells SNFs to prepare for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel […]
Skilled nursing facilities, and post-acute providers in general, will feel pain even beyond the immediate short-term challenges of protecting residents and staff from the spread of the novel coronavirus, several experts predicted Thursday. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late on Wednesday recommended the delay of “all elective surgeries, non-essential medical, surgical, and dental […]
As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. mounts, concerns about hospital bed capacity are rising in proportion — and skilled nursing facilities need to be ready to help ease the stress on the acute care system, according to multiple providers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seemed to confirm this […]
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced an emergency expansion of telehealth coverage for Medicare beneficiaries amid the COVID-19 outbreak, removing multiple regulatory barriers to doctors providing remote care for nursing home residents. Retroactive to March 6, Medicare can pay for virtual consultations provided through telehealth platforms across the country, including those conducted in a patient’s […]
The residents and patients at skilled nursing facilities are uniquely imperiled by COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that’s rapidly altering the routines of everyday life worldwide. As a result, SNFs across the country have gone into lockdown, with the federal government on Friday issuing a blanket ban of non-essential visits. Their hospital […]
The federal government late Friday formally issued new guidance prohibiting all non-essential visits to nursing homes, while also waiving the three-day hospital stay requirement for subsequent Medicare skilled nursing coverage, as officials look to blunt the effects of the novel coronavirus on elderly Americans. The strict ban allows exceptions for families to visit loved ones […]
UPDATE, Saturday, March 14: CMS formally issued its guidance late Friday, enacting a ban on most non-essential visits to nursing homes and also waiving the three-day stay rule for Medicare skilled nursing coverage. The federal government will soon issue guidance directing nursing home operators to ban the vast majority of visitors amid the spread of […]
The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was specifically designed to reimburse skilled nursing facilities based on the condition of the patients that they treat, rather than by the minutes of therapy provided to those patients. As part of the change, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included a 25% cap on group and concurrent […]
A skilled nursing operator or investor could be forgiven for running toward the exits when presented with the opportunity to take over buildings in rural West Texas. Between persistently low Medicaid rates in the Lone Star State and the general operational difficulties that rural buildings face in markets across the country, the combination may not […]
With concerns around staffing and supply shortages in nursing homes amid the coronavirus, telemedicine has emerged as a key potential weapon, receiving the first-ever major green light for reimbursement on the national level — as part of an $8.3 billion bill allowing the federal government to cover remote care for Medicare recipients passed last Wednesday. […]
The recent federal enforcement pushes haven’t just brought new challenges to skilled nursing operators, who must now adjust to a world of warning icons and lists of struggling facilities now made public on a monthly basis. The lenders that finance skilled nursing acquisitions and renovations have been forced to take a hard look at their […]
Skilled nursing operators with a strong regional focus and market presence are attractive to potential investors and capital partners, but ultimately the realities of the market will trump even the best operator. The operator-driven nature of the SNF field makes the people involved in a given facility paramount, but investors can’t overlook how susceptible nursing […]
The early returns for the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes have been broadly positive, with multiple experts and operators pegging the revenue gains at a healthy but modest 5% to 6%. But the actual gains may be higher than those numbers betray, and several experts predict some kind of eventual adjustment from the […]
In the wake of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus at a Washington nursing home, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will immediately refocus inspections of skilled nursing facilities on compliance with the agency’s infection control policies — and suspend all non-emergency survey work, the agency announced on Wednesday. “We obviously are looking […]
The new fee-for-service payment model for nursing homes took up most of the oxygen in the industry over the past two years, but the rise of Medicare Advantage in markets across the country could make all of that preparation for naught — sooner than many may think. The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) for nursing homes […]
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