The head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday issued a strong defense of a proposed rule that nursing home advocates claim would place up to $50 billion in Medicaid reimbursements in immediate jeopardy, framing the move as a necessary step toward reducing fraud and waste. The Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation […]
Category: Featured
A health care staffing startup that had initially focused on the home setting sees significant opportunity to expand into a skilled nursing space still grappling with the implications of a new Medicare payment model — and it recently pulled down a $5 million funding round to help fuel that growth. The Los Angeles-based Gento, formerly […]
It’s four months into the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), and despite some industry analysts pointing to early gains for nursing homes, many occupational, speech, and physical therapy advocates continue to criticize layoffs and changes to resident care patterns. On the operational side, the initial PDPM returns have been positive: For instance, 67% of nursing homes […]
Turning around a struggling nursing home is no easy task, and that task becomes more challenging when the skilled nursing facility’s struggles played out in national headlines. But for Philosophy Care Group, the challenges of taking over a troubled facility were mitigated by the presence of a strong staff — and by the knowledge that […]
The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) on Thursday announced that its skilled nursing facilities have seen rate increases of up to 6% under the new Medicare payment model, in part helping to drive the post-acute leader to another set of record earnings. The company’s established same-store facilities achieved those 6% gains, while Ensign’s transitioning facilities — […]
Once wary of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other new payment models, nursing home owners and operators are beginning to turn in favor of these value-based care structures — in the hopes of gaining leverage in a complex skilled nursing market burdened by high costs of care and staffing pressures. And although the push to […]
Genesis HealthCare (NYSE: GEN) on Tuesday announced a set of deals that will see the skilled nursing giant transfer control of 19 facilities in the West to a regional operator — while also still serving as a provider of back-office support and ancillary services. Under the terms of the $79 million transaction, the Los Angeles-based […]
Just three months after the nursing home world saw a new Medicare payment model take effect, the home health industry dealt with its own sea change: the Patient-Driven Groupings Model. For most SNFs, the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) is top of mind, as they work out the new system for their own Medicare reimbursement change. […]
The accountable care organization (ACO) has earned itself something of a bad reputation in certain corners of the skilled nursing world, but leaders who read SNN revealed an increasing willingness to work with the groups — instead of getting left behind. That’s just one of the many takeaways from our annual reader survey, which SNN […]
The latest analysis of the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes again shows more operators scoring gains than suffering losses, but the change from the previous system may not be quite as straightforward — particularly as fee-for-service Medicare continues to lose ground to other payment sources. A little more than 67% of skilled nursing […]
The early returns for the new Medicare nursing home payment model have been positive, but providers aren’t seeing gains by sitting back and watching the changes. Several key strategies for success have emerged in the Patient-Driven Payment Model’s first four months, with a particular focus on data — as well as clearly communicating the availability […]
When it comes to the buying, selling, and financial backing of skilled nursing facilities, the new chief development officer of Senior Living Investment Brokerage has seen all angles. Steve Gilleland, who joined the Glen Ellyn, Ill.-based SLIB at the beginning of the month, worked on the lending side of skilled nursing and senior housing in […]
As hospitals have increased pressure to reduce post-acute lengths of stay, and nursing homes take on higher-acuity patients, the skilled nursing space has grappled with the dueling potential for great financial gains — along with heightened risks in appropriately managing this population. One emerging strategy focuses on embedding higher-level clinicians, including physicians and advanced-practice nurses, […]
In the skilled nursing world, a steady chorus of voices has warned that the new Patient-Driven Payment Model will not stay budget-neutral, as the federal government intended — and new findings from the consulting firm BKD back up their assertions. To get a snapshot of operator performance during the first quarter under the new Medicare […]
The consulting firm Avalere Health, based in Washington, D.C., has had a front-row seat for the changes shaping the health care world, including the post-acute sphere. For skilled nursing facilities, many of those changes have felt like one punch after another, ranging from the rise of Medicare Advantage enrollment to the federal government’s encouragement of […]
The federal government has proposed a rule governing the use of Medicaid supplemental payments for nursing homes that could have drastic effects on the reimbursement they receive. But the ripples of the rule don’t stop there. They could also overhaul the taxes that providers pay in several states — taxes that in turn contribute to […]
Early returns for the new Medicare Part A reimbursement system for nursing home operators appear positive, but some industry advocates warn that more Part B pain could be coming over the next few years, both for therapists and skilled nursing providers. And although the exploding senior population represents heavy demand for therapy services, some leaders […]
Though the early days of 2020 have brought some optimism around the state of the post-acute and long-term care industry, executives in the space continue to emphasize that the coming 12 months could bring make-or-break decisions for operators and their partners. One day after American Health Care Association (AHCA) CEO Mark Parkinson told SNN that […]
Early analyses of the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes indicate that operators may be pulling in more money than the federal government intended — leading to widespread speculation that adjustments could be coming sometime in 2020. American Health Care Association (AHCA) president and CEO Mark Parkinson agrees with the idea that the Patient-Driven […]
With skilled nursing facilities in multiple states facing significant shortfalls in their Medicaid reimbursement, supplemental payment programs used to bolster rates have become a lifeline. This is especially true for Texas and Indiana, both of which employ programs designed to get SNFs a higher rate for Medicaid services through varying mechanisms. Both states are motivated […]


