Meticulous documentation is the name of the game for nursing home operators looking to keep up with Minimum Data Set (MDS) changes and maintaining a good rating in the Five-Star Quality Rating System. This is especially because inaccurate or insufficient data could affect a facility for at least a year in the future. Leaders in […]
Category: Featured
Since last October’s Minimum Data Set (MDS) changes – considered the most significant since 2011 – nursing homes have faced more rigorous regulatory requirements and administrative burdens to implement them. However, these changes can serve as renewed opportunities to improve resident care through an interdisciplinary team approach, which can result in savings. To draw success, […]
Many nursing home operators in the past year have been in rebuilding mode, bolstering staff and reworking systems to fit better in a post-pandemic world. Principle LTC has been doing much the same in developing programs offered to help employees in crisis or those who want to further their education. But, it’s going to take […]
In an era when surveys – and delay in surveys – have been the cause for much stress among nursing home operators, a sometimes undervalued and overlooked strategy to minimize survey risk involves operators developing strong relationships with their state survey agencies. That’s certainly an easier task compared to getting approval from national agencies like […]
As the federal government’s new staffing mandate looms large for nursing homes, operators are grappling with challenges in meeting the upcoming facility assessment requirements but urge compliance despite the burdens on staff. Stuart Almer, an industry veteran who is also president and CEO of Gurwin Healthcare System in New York, highlighted the daunting nature of […]
Financial and operational challenges in a climate of ever-tightening regulation have intensified to the point where industry leaders have been continuously adapting, yet bleeding profits. In a panel discussion led by Skilled Nursing News titled, “Mandate and Margin: Skilled Nursing CEOs on Rethinking Staffing, Payments, & Strategic Business Imperatives,” executives discussed how SNF operators are […]
There’s been a flurry of regulatory activity related to Medicare Advantage (MA) in the first half of this year, with many policy actions being the result of extensive advocacy efforts among nursing home organizations. However, many of the regulations – such as those related to prior authorizations for certain services – as they stand are […]
As regulatory, operational and legal risks abound for nursing home operators, strong relationships with commercial insurance carriers and brokers continue to be key in countering costs. Operators facing higher insurance premiums and greater administrative burdens have turned to using strong commercial insurance risk management companies as well as data-driven solutions that factor in the new […]
Specialized clinical programs at nursing homes, tailored to specific patient populations, are gaining popularity. Their success and longevity depend on forging close partnerships with local hospitals to address gaps in care – a feature that is also expected to alleviate backlogs at hospitals. In creating strong clinical programs at SNFs, hospitals – can and do […]
Behind the success of PACS Group’s (NYSE: PACS) high-growth model is the nursing home giant’s principle of entrusting its early career administrators with greater autonomy. In rejecting the traditional path, PACS allows administrators in training the opportunity to step into their roles with greater independence much earlier. Enabling new leaders to make crucial decisions and […]
Reimbursement issues at nursing homes are pushing operators to adapt their payment models to increase reliance on Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). But while these models aim to enhance care quality even as they control costs, they also bring on unique challenges, including requiring extra oversight with discharges and related […]
The new facility assessment requirements that federal agencies are expecting will guide decisions on staffing levels are also garnering concerns about potential administrative and financial burdens, particularly for smaller-sized nursing home chains. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) modified the existing requirements in late June, issuing expanded guidance to include metrics that are […]
Despite operational and financial headwinds affecting the nursing home sector currently, a transitional care program and physiatry partnership has been able to cut readmission rates from 29% to 9% among a group of facilities. OSF HealthCare, a 17-hospital system in Illinois and Michigan, partnered with physiatry and care coordination management group Puzzle Healthcare to deliver […]
Amid plans to launch the largest provider-owned institutional special needs plan (I-SNP) in the U.S., Brickyard Healthcare is also making sure it surpasses certain other challenges facing the sector. Along with this endeavor, eliminating agency use, preparing for managed Medicaid in Indiana, and being ready to face the staffing mandate, have all been top of […]
A Supreme Court decision on Friday could significantly weaken federal agencies’ authority to regulate industries, including powers of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), with wide implications for the recently finalized federal minimum staffing rule for nursing homes. The Supreme Court’s decision to discard the long-standing so-called Chevron doctrine is a “game changer,” […]
Skilled nursing assets at continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) have long been subject to downsizing for a variety of reasons, including operational challenges, the cost to care for skilled patients and regulatory hurdles. Add to this list: the severity of the nursing home survey process. Stu Almer, CEO of Gurwin Healthcare System in New York, […]
The crisis involving patients languishing at hospitals awaiting discharge into appropriate post-acute care settings has shown little signs of abating. The root causes of these discharge delays are manifold, but chief among them are workforce shortages at nursing homes. According to experts at a webinar hosted by ATI, the discharge crisis is amplified by a […]
Even though Derek Prince, CEO of HMG Healthcare, has been encouraging new initiatives to improve staffing at this organization and is celebrating wins on that front, he is fully aware of the unfolding crisis the federal minimum staffing mandate will represent for providers across Texas. Hence, Prince, who is also a board member of the […]
Georgia nonprofit A.G. Rhodes’ CEO, Deke Cateau, is all about solutions. To that end, he has had a busy couple of years, successfully expanding one of the operator’s three campuses to be all private rooms with a dementia area built with the household model in mind – a $37.5 million endeavor. Cateau said he would […]
Texas-based Touchstone Communities hasn’t been slowing down this year, with the operator busy acquiring and building properties. On top of brick-and-mortar updates, Touchstone also partnered with Longevity Health in January to offer institutional special needs plans (I-SNPs) to its residents. It’s very thoughtful, controlled growth aimed at diversification of assets, said Leslie Cunningham Campbell, COO […]