When an ombudsman remains on site during post-acute and long-term care facility surveys, the building’s quality scores may be negatively affected, according to a study in published this week in JAMDA, journal of AMDA — The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Researchers determined that ombudsmen may direct assessors to more attention to on-site […]
Category: Medicare
With changes in Medicare reimbursement rules and heightened pressure to cultivate stronger clinical outcomes, technology has increasingly emerged as a solution to help providers find and retain staff. connectRN, a mobile software platform that assists registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), nursing assistants, and other staff in finding available employment slots at multiple facilities, […]
For one skilled nursing operator in the greater Chicago area, success in the world of accountable care organizations has meant education and proactive collaboration — as well as a willingness to drop out of a partnership with an ACO that didn’t fit into its overall philosophy. “We really look for a partnership in the ACO, […]
Reports of therapist layoffs and cuts in therapy hours hit the news within days of the implementation of the new Medicare reimbursement system for skilled nursing facilities, sending shock waves throughout the rehab provider community. But according to one major skilled nursing trade group, the cuts to therapy were baked into the system of the […]
The new federal guidelines mandating that hospitals offer patients detailed information about available post-acute providers is prompting their acute-care counterparts to solidify and deepen their discharge policies. The rule, finalized last month, calls for hospitals to provide information about residents’ SNF options — with detailed data on quality measures — to help patients make the […]
The arrival of the new Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) on October 1 has created a flurry of changing operational strategies — and a reframing of how operators and staff track clinical outcomes. One of those shifts has been the rise of group and concurrent therapy services, which multiple voices have identified as a key potential […]
Less than a week after the federal government proposed a new warning symbol for nursing homes with a history of abuse, a leading trade group has asked for a less severe icon. The American Health Care Association (AHCA) late last week called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ditch its red, […]
While more skilled nursing facilities are using home dialysis to diversify their offerings to patients, New York State’s Department of Health has introduced a new licensing model — with more regulatory steps for operators to complete. Dialysis services have been identified as a potential area of growth under the new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM); […]
BM Eagle Holdings has emerged as a major owner of skilled nursing assets in the United States, picking off a pair of sizable portfolio deals in the last two years — with a specific focus on finding the right operator in the right market. “In our business, what we’re looking for is investing in assets […]
The first week of the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes has brought stories of rapidly shifting therapy patterns among some providers, and voices from the consulting and advocacy worlds are warning that any sudden movements could cause adverse effects — both immediately and down the road. The advent of the Patient-Driven Payment Model […]
Dialysis services have emerged as a potential growth area under multiple new Medicare payment models, and a skilled nursing provider in the Northeast has joined a growing list of companies partnering with vendors providing renal care. Marquis Health Services earlier this month teamed up with Compass Home Dialysis to provide staff-assisted bedside hemodialysis services at […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday announced a plan to begin displaying a warning icon for nursing homes with abuse citations on its flagship consumer-facing website. Starting October 23, visitors to Nursing Home Compare will see a red circle with an open palm on the pages for facilities that have received […]
The new Medicare payment model for nursing homes took effect this week with a bang, as therapists across the nation criticized a wave of staffing reductions in the immediate wake of the October 1 start date. Several companies implemented workforce cuts as the federal government shifted to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), which moves incentives […]
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order asking top federal officials to explore a wide variety of Medicare Advantage expansion efforts, including a call to more closely align the rates paid by MA plans and traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Among the order’s provisions is a request for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary […]
Just one day after the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes took effect, providers throughout the industry have begun showing signs of changing therapy strategies — and one of the nation’s top operators confirmed the layoff of about 585 rehab employees. A spokesperson for Genesis HealthCare (NYSE: GEN) confirmed to SNN that the company […]
There are generally two schools of thought on how to improve nursing home oversight and care: one focused on cutting red tape and bureaucratic burdens for skilled nursing facilities, and one focused on cracking down on bad actors in the field. But to make genuine progress in improving quality, policymakers will have to go beyond […]
The long wait is over: The new Medicare payment system for nursing homes has arrived. October 1 marks the official start of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), just about 18 months after the federal government first announced the change in April 2018. Since then, the skilled nursing industry has trained a laser focus on preparations […]
A new proposed rule that would expand Medicare coverage of dialysis services has already generated interest among skilled nursing operators, and multiple voices have called on officials to further cement the SNF connection. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in July rolled out the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices (ETC) model, a […]
The Trump administration continued to cheer on the growth of Medicare Advantage plans Tuesday, with the nation’s top Medicare official touting the wider array of options available to beneficiaries next year. American seniors will have 600 additional Medicare Advantage plan choices next year, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Seema Verma announced in […]
As payers and hospital networks increasingly treat skilled nursing facilities as just one stop along an overall episode of care, operators in the space have received a variety of messages about how to survive: Bring data, get to know referral partners’ problems, demonstrate your worth. But a leader at a major Philadelphia-area hospital network took […]