During Covid-19, skilled nursing facilities have seen their admissions squeezed as more patients have gone straight from hospitals to their own homes for recovery. But more complex cases are also being diverted away from SNFs, toward inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) and long-term acute-care hospitals (LTACs). It’s a trend highlighted in an analysis from consulting firm […]
Category: Medicare
The pandemic recovery continues to present unsettling conditions for the economic wellbeing of older and somewhat struggling skilled nursing facilities. Steady stimulus funding provided by the federal government and other sources such as the CARES Act has helped sustain some communities that have been met with rising expenses and falling census. December 2020 occupancy rates […]
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government issued a range of waivers to help the health system care for patients without being overwhelmed. One of those waivers removed a common barrier to skilled nursing care: the requirement that a patient have a three-day inpatient hospital stay for Medicare to cover the […]
Skilled Nursing News was able to sit down (virtually) with Amy Kaszak, president of special needs plans for Virginia-based AllyAlign Health, to talk about current trends in the skilled nursing industry. Consolidation is on the horizon, Kaszak said, along with an increase in managed care, preventative services and home health supplemental options. AllyAlign Health was […]
After more than a year of mostly bad press from the pandemic, the skilled nursing industry is looking to reframe the narrative through localized communication tactics and an open dialogue with area families. Skilled Nursing News invited Villa Healthcare’s Linsey Cherveny and Janine Finck-Boyle, vice president of regulatory affairs at Leading Age to discuss the […]
The pandemic has accelerated a shift to private rooms in the skilled nursing space, an attempt to help curb infection, with 31 percent of operators making the change in some capacity last year. Chicago-based speciality investment bank Ziegler reported the statistic during a CFO workshop in April — research also showed 47 percent of operators […]
Short-term nursing facilities across the country continue to wrestle with vaccine-hesitant staff even as residents line up for the vaccination. Thanks to new federal guidance, visitors and residents in some states can now socialize without masks if both can produce vaccine cards. But even as facility managers celebrate this, they are still working to convince […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now requiring long-term care facilities to report the weekly COVID-19 vaccination status of residents and staff, with the goal of monitoring vaccine uptake and identifying facilities in need of resources or assistance to respond to the pandemic. The interim final rule, announced Tuesday, will require long-term […]
Hiring and retaining entry-level workers for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) is a challenge one localized operator has overcome, making it a proud outlier when it comes to meeting the industry’s biggest challenge. Goodwin House Inc. operates two Northern Virginia communities – Goodwin House Alexandria; and Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads – and has overcome the obstacles […]
Skilled nursing facility surveys have skyrocketed over the past year, with some worrying that surveyors have also grown more aggressive. Federal data indicates that the number of surveys conducted nationwide has risen 132% percent since 2020, leaving some wondering how fairly standards are being applied when COVID-19 is already forcing facilities to contend with staff […]
Persistent skilled nursing headwinds played a role in the decision for Five Star Senior Living (Nasdaq: FVE) to close and repurpose all the health care units in its continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). “Over the past several years, we have strategically reduced our exposure to skilled nursing, a line of business that has been subject […]
Despite most nursing home residents being vaccinated, the skilled nursing industry is still faced with record-low occupancy, higher expenses, and regulatory uncertainty with a new administration taking the reins. Skilled Nursing News got a chance to sit down with Cory Christensen, the Chief Executive Officer of Plum Healthcare Group, to hear about how they are […]
Patients recovering at a skilled nursing facility (SNF) can often be discharged home much sooner than they typically are without resulting in a negative health outcome, new research suggests. And if that were to happen more frequently, it could potentially save the U.S. health care system millions of dollars in post-acute care spending while setting […]
Formation Capital has a new CEO and is embarking on an investment strategy focused on creating new models of senior living and services. Atlanta-based Formation has been a prolific investor in the senior housing and care sector since its founding in 1999. As of last year, when long-time CEO Brian Beckwith departed, the firm was […]
The federal government sent a shockwave through the post-acute and long-term care landscape earlier this month when it disclosed that the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes had increased total spending by 5% — counter to its goal of budget neutrality. But while officials mull the ways that the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) could […]
Even before the pandemic, executives at onehome saw opportunity in developing a robust rehab program that could provide a skilled nursing facility level of care at home. The Miramar, Fla.-based home health provider and convener partners primarily with managed Medicare insurers, with limited traditional fee-for-service Medicare or Medicaid business lines; instead, onehome opts for risk-sharing […]
The federal government has made it clear that it wants to adjust how nursing homes receive Medicare reimbursement due to an estimated 5% increase in fiscal 2020 — a gain that runs counter to the goal of keeping Medicare spending level from year to year. Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) determined […]
Skilled nursing facilities and other health care providers will receive 2% more in Medicare reimbursements through the end of 2021 after President Biden signed a long-awaited sequestration moratorium bill into law Wednesday. Congress in late March 2020 suspended the 2% sequestration cut as the coronavirus crisis began to gain steam, and late last year bumped […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on April 8 that it is ending several emergency regulatory waivers that were designed to give nursing homes flexibility in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic — specifically related to patient transfers and discharges, as well as the timeframe requirements for completing and transmitting a patient’s Minimum […]
PDPM Adjustments, Smaller Medicare Raise Show CMS ‘Ready to Pull Back’ on COVID Aid to Nursing Homes
As the federal government’s approach toward nursing homes and COVID-19 continues to shift from emergency support to reflection and reform, analysts are increasingly warning that the coronavirus-era gravy train could soon come to an abrupt stop. In particular, the past week has brought three pieces of news that may signal trouble ahead for operators and […]
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