The COVID-19 pandemic has rightfully prompted lawmakers at the state and federal level to reconsider the way government payers incentivize or discourage the use of nursing homes relative to other options, such as home- and community-based services (HCBS). But one prominent long-term care researcher this week warned against looking at the reform equation as a […]
Category: Innovation
As COVID-19 maintains a hold in significant portions of the U.S., it’s poised to shake up some key aspects of how care is provided in the skilled nursing setting. Consulate Health Care’s new chief operating officer, Tim Lehner, joined the Maitland, Fla.-based operator in June, amid a major pandemic that’s reshaping the skilled nursing landscape […]
New guidelines that could open up telehealth coverage under Medicare Advantage represent a serious opportunity for the industry, according to multiple technology providers — especially as the moves signal growing support for remote care from key federal officials. Under a proposed rule released late last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would […]
A staffing software provider aimed at long-term care operators on Thursday announced an injection of $10.8 million in additional funding as it attempts to expand beyond its current four-state footprint. The Quincy, Mass.-based IntelyCare raised the funds in a Series A round led by Leerink Revelation Partners, along with Longmeadow Capital, LRV Health, and former […]
Skilled nursing provider Signature HealthCARE faced a a series of financial headwinds over the past two years. The provider’s problems ranged from issues paying the rent to major landlords Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) and Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (NYSE: OHI) to a government investigation related to the False Claims Act (FCA). The Louisville, Ky.-based operator, […]
Go to any skilled nursing or senior living conference, and you’ll be greeted with a wide array of exciting new technologies with the potential for making residents’ and workers’ lives better. On the flashier end, there’s full-size exoskeletons that can help seniors walk again, or virtual-reality games that help users re-learn how to swallow and […]
While they don’t represent broad-based coverage for skilled nursing facilities, new proposed telehealth guidelines from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have drawn praise from providers and groups that see the news as a sign of even wider coverage on the horizon. Under the proposed rule issued earlier this month, CMS would expand […]
Voice technology has promise in senior care, but skilled nursing providers and residents need to keep their expectations tempered, one expert says. When it comes to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, Elizabeth Mynatt, the executive director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology, has a note of caution. “I think the Alexa is unproven,” Mynatt […]
At the turn of the century, the New York non-profit Fort Hudson Health System saw opportunities to go beyond its roots as a traditional nursing home provider by expanding into independent housing and home and community-based services. It was a vision that drew Andy Cruikshank, Fort Hudson’s CEO, to take on the role in 2000. […]
When Fortune magazine publishes its first “Best Workplaces in Aging Services” list on Sept. 27, it might include some skilled nursing facilities. That wasn’t what Jacquelyn Kung, CEO of Activated Insights, expected when her firm began leading the effort to compile the “Best Workplaces in Aging Services.” Activated Insights is based on the San Francisco corporate […]
The recent megadeals involving popular consumer brands and health care giants haven’t touched skilled nursing yet, but the moves are sending ripple effects through the industry as a whole — and SNF providers would be wise to listen up. When CVS acquired insurance giant Aetna and Amazon teamed up to form a health care company with […]
Some skilled nursing providers have turned to in-house insurance plans to take more control of the care process, and the move could pay off if the government’s new proposed reimbursement model is finalized. The Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM), which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed in April, would overhaul skilled nursing reimbursements […]
As skilled nursing facilities face pressures to improve care in an increasingly value-focused world, one provider has been able to lower its rehospitalization rate into the single digits by adding in-house emergency care. Call9, which is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and embeds paramedics on-site at skilled nursing facilities, partnered with the Archdiocese of New York’s long-term care […]
With the advent of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM), rehabilitation and therapy in the skilled nursing space has come under intense scrutiny. When CMS introduced PDPM in late April, it touted incentives to treat the needs of the whole patient. One side effect of that focus, however, is […]
While skilled nursing operators have increasingly faced stresses related to the ongoing shift to value-based care — primarily the threat of decreased reimbursements — at least one observer says the industry hasn’t seen anything yet. “You’re just entering the value-based dynamic right now,” Mountasser Kadrie, a health care management consultant, said during a presentation at […]
In an era of tight financial constraints for skilled nursing facilities, one owner-operator turned to a unique funding source to offset construction costs — and set up savings for the future. Premier Health Care Management, which owns and operates nine skilled nursing facilities with 961 beds in southwestern Ohio, is using the state’s Commercial Property […]
Skilled nursing providers are adding value for managed care payors, and they need to be willing to tout it in contract negotiations, according to one executive. “[Managed care] is coming your way,” Anthony Laflen, director of data analytics at Consonus Healthcare, told a room full of nursing home operators at LeadingAge Illinois’ annual conference in Schaumburg, Ill. […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hasn’t yet announced complete details about upcoming changes to therapy reimbursements, but that doesn’t mean skilled nursing facilities should wait for word on the sidelines. “In general, we really need to consider redesign — care redesign — because what you’re doing today, and I say that obviously […]
The role of the care coordinator has frequently been floated as a way skilled nursing providers can navigate the new value-based care landscape. By creating a position that’s solely focused on guiding residents through the transitions that occur on the long-term care continuum, the logic goes, providers can prevent costly hospital readmissions and improve the quality […]
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has a new director. Adam Boehler, founder and former chief executive officer of home health provider Landmark Health, was named CMMI director — a position that also comes with the title of deputy administrator — by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Azar has […]
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