When Considering a Specialty, Providers Need to Think Big and Small

As the incentive for operators to take on residents with more complex health issues grows, major skilled nursing players see a path forward in boosting their clinical capabilities. Custodial long-term care is on the way out, Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) CEO Rick Matros said last year at a major industry conference. Meanwhile, skilled nursing provider […]

AI in Skilled Nursing Facilities Isn’t Just About Robots

Ask any forward-looking senior care expert about what the industry will look like in 30 years, and robots will likely emerge as an answer. Once artificial intelligence (AI) technology advances far enough, the logic goes, the skilled nursing industry could hypothetically solve its persistent staffing problems with cyborg assistants — a solution that’s already gained […]

Japan’s Elder Care Robot Industry Set to Top $3B by 2035

Faced with a demographic situation even more dire than the one in the United States, firms in Japan are leading the way in developing robotic solutions to a caregiver shortage — with an eye on cornering the market in the years to come. The overall worldwide market for robotic assistants used in nursing homes and […]

Tracking Skilled Nursing Patients to Save Money and Avoid the Hospital

Under considerable pressure to demonstrate their worth as the health care system moves to value-based care, skilled nursing providers are monitoring patients more closely — even after discharge. For some providers, that takes the form of a new nursing role. For others, it’s a more extensive networking endeavor. But the common focus is transitions of […]

Data, Not Donuts: Building Today’s Skilled Nursing Partnerships

In the past, nailing down a partnership with a local hospital or home health agency might have simply been a matter of providing the right free breakfast to the right group of hungry administrators. But in a world with shifting payment models and increasing emphasis on outcomes, skilled nursing providers must step up their game with […]

Providers Try to Anticipate Change with Flexible Design

The coming “silver tsunami” is a concept that continues to inspire optimism in the skilled nursing and senior care space, but the health needs of that population are still murky. Flexible design is a tool that can help skilled nursing providers and others be prepared for these unknowns, and one Virginia continuing care retirement community (CCRC) […]

How In-House Insurance Plans Can Boost Skilled Nursing’s Fortunes

In an era of record-low skilled nursing occupancy and rapidly shifting payment models, some operators have found a single solution to both problems: an in-house insurance plan. Skilled nursing providers can create their own institutional special needs plans (I-SNPs), a type of Medicare Advantage program specifically designed to cover beneficiaries who are confined to an institution […]

Provider Organizations Express Concerns With Bundled Payments Program

Not allowing post-acute care (PAC) providers to take the lead in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) program will hamstring the government’s ability to improve savings and care, several associations argued in a letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). LeadingAge and other prominent long-term care associations raised concerns about […]

Welltower CEO Describes ‘New-Age SNF’ Concept

The skilled nursing industry will emerge from its current period of duress and be reinvented in the coming years, according to Tom DeRosa, CEO of real estate investment trust (REIT) Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL). This belief is one reason why Toledo, Ohio-based Welltower is maintaining a foothold in skilled nursing, with about 10% of the […]

Two Visions of the 21st Century Skilled Nursing Facility

The skilled nursing world is in upheaval, but too many providers are complacently running the skilled nursing facility of yesterday rather than creating a successful model for the future. That’s according to Anne Tumlinson, founder of consultancy Anne Tumlinson Innovations and a nationally recognized authority on post-acute and senior care. She previously led Medicaid oversight […]

Targeting Seniors in the ER Can Bolster Partnerships, Reap Savings

Emergency departments could play a key role in care transitions for older patients and lead to overall Medicare savings, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. More generally, focusing on seniors in the ED could also lead to better relationships between hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. “The emergency department is […]

All in the Family: Canadian Facility Brings Skilled Nursing, Condo Living Together

A new residence in British Columbia is making retirement a matter for the whole family. And that includes those who might need care on an around-the-clock basis. The Opal residence from Element Lifestyle Retirement, which provides management services for senior retirement communities, is projected to be completed in February 2019. It features 44 residential condominium […]

Virtual Behavioral Health Services Can Cut Skilled Nursing Costs

Telehealth services that focus on behavioral health can reduce the overall costs of care for long-term care (LTC) residents by keeping them out of the hospital and emergency department (ED). The technology allows LTC facilities, particularly rural ones, to deliver needed behavioral health services to their residents, a new study found. Specifically, the services can […]

Mixed-Age Skilled Nursing Facilities Face Significant Barriers

When Skilled Nursing News set out to envision the nursing home of the future, one topic kept coming up over and over again: the intergenerational SNF, a place where people of all ages could recover from surgeries or receive long-term care together. But creating such a diverse facility is easier said than done. “For short-term […]

WSJ: Amazon Looking to Reinvent Medical Supply Space

After sending a shock through the health space last month, e-commerce giant Amazon may be coming for the medical supply industry, too. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has been inviting hospital executives to its headquarters in Seattle to gather information and test ideas for expanding Amazon Business, a business-to-business marketplace, to include medical supplies for outpatient locations, operating […]

Provider Battles for Skilled Nursing Innovations in New High-Rise

With skilled nursing besieged from all sides, there is a pressing need for fresh designs and improved services. Recognizing this, a non-profit provider in Wisconsin has gone to great lengths to bring an innovative offering to the Milwaukee market, highlighting that it’s possible — but often difficult — to push the envelope in skilled nursing. Less than a decade […]

Backed With $34M, Call9 Wants to Bring the ER into Skilled Nursing Facilities

With record-low occupancy, rising labor costs, and other pressures eroding the bottom line, the need for nursing homes to innovate to survive has never been more pressing. In their quest for innovation, skilled nursing providers are turning to new partners, such as a Silicon Valley startup offering a solution to prevent residents from going to hospital emergency departments. […]

Why Skilled Nursing Needs to Take Cues from Hotels

Ten seconds. That’s how quickly some consumers make up their minds about a skilled nursing facility. They make that decision upon entry, as they look at the lobby, the seating, the art on the walls. It’s the reason some skilled nursing design experts believe that SNF operators must pay more attention than they already do […]

How OpenTable Inspired One Skilled Nursing Software Provider

Skilled nursing operators are facing increased incentives to collaborate with providers across the care continuum, and electronic health record (EHR) software is often identified as a potential solution. But such a strategy can only work if every provider in a given chain of care uses the same software, which can create barriers both for SNFs […]