The federal government’s top health care watchdog on Wednesday released a new report accusing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of not doing enough to monitor and punish elder abuse in nursing homes and other settings. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined that CMS could perform detailed analyses of diagnosis […]
In the competitive world of short-term rehab, success depends on both who and what you know — and, by extension, how you tell your individual building’s story to the people whose opinions matter the most. The Medicare-focused building has been hailed as the future of skilled nursing and questioned as a difficult-to-achieve pipe dream, but […]
Adding behavioral health services has frequently been floated as a way that nursing homes can diversify their offerings and attract new residents — particularly as demand for the treatment of depression and other mental health issues continues to grow among older Americans. But a significant swath of operators report persistent challenges in caring for residents […]
The market will still need to determine whether the new Medicare reimbursement structure for nursing homes will be a net positive or negative for the industry, but at least one insider says buyers and sellers in the space aren’t optimistic enough. Current prices for skilled nursing facilities don’t typically account for the potential of cost […]
In a reimbursement landscape where hospitals increasingly look to cut nursing homes out of the continuum of care entirely, a recent study found that it’s possible to predict “with good accuracy and clinical usability” which patients will end up being discharged to a skilled nursing facility. The index — which was developed by researchers from […]
The skilled nursing industry has — with good reason — thrown much of its energy and focus onto the challenges of the Medicare reimbursement overhaul taking effect on October 1 of this year. But according to one prominent industry leader, the challenges of Medicaid pose a far greater threat to providers — particularly as the […]
The percentage of residents discharged from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities dropped from 45% to 26% in just three years amid the implementation of a mandatory bundled payment program in New Jersey, a new study found. Since April 2016, 38 hospitals in the Garden State have been required to participate in the Comprehensive Care for […]
The new Medicare model for skilled nursing facilities more closely links reimbursements with resident conditions — and making sure that facilities completely document those conditions will soon be an essential step for success. But because payment under the current Resource Utilization Group (RUG) system is driven primarily by therapy minutes, capturing those conditions on the […]
Among the many skilled nursing landmines — from a new Medicare payment system to underfunded Medicaid programs to a shifting regulatory landscape — providers would be wise not to ignore the ongoing effects of bundled payment programs. In fact, at the end of a recent discussion on his research into the cost-savings successes and failures […]
Once the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes takes effect this fall, skilled nursing giant Genesis HealthCare (NYSE: GEN) expects to see significant expense savings — while also changing the way it negotiates therapy contracts with its third-party clients. The Kennett Square, Pa.-based operator projects that the expanded opportunity for group and concurrent therapy, […]
The administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) placed nursing homes among her top areas of focus for the months to come, though she provided scant few other details during a wide-ranging press conference this week. “I’m spending a lot of time on nursing homes,” Seema Verma said in a Wednesday afternoon […]
Skilled nursing providers across the U.S. could be forgiven for feeling like they’re trapped in a word problem out of an algebra textbook when assessing the reimbursement for Medicaid patients — often the majority of residents inside a given facility. And despite some promising signs from the federal government, the coming changes to the Medicare […]
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) don’t always meet their intended goals of saving the government money, and while a new study shows that the model has led to losses in New York, its author asserts that the programs remain ripe for skilled nursing opportunities. Five years into the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), ACOs in the […]
At surface level, the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes revolves largely around therapy, as the federal government works to realign incentives and prevent what officials claim to be a wave of unnecessary services. Speech, occupational, and physical therapy account for three of the five components of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), and providers […]
Joint replacements and orthopedic patients were once the bread and butter of the skilled nursing world, but as acuity rises and value-based care gathers momentum, it’s not a business SNFs can bank on having in the future. Instead, they have to be hyper-aware of the needs of their specific market and respond accordingly. For Symphony […]
The new Medicare reimbursement model for skilled nursing facilities remains on track for implementation this fall, but not everyone is ready — and operators need to look to the big-picture shifts in value-based care for inspiration as the clock keeps ticking. That’s according to a recent webinar from the Minneapolis-based consulting firm Health Dimensions Group […]
As the health care system continues to push skilled nursing providers in the direction of risk, the Ciena Group has relied on lessons learned from bundled payments as it looks at entering the world of Medicare Advantage. The fact that skilled nursing could not initiate episodes under the newest bundled payments model “pulled the rug […]
Ever since the government came out with its most recent model for bundled payments, acute care has been in the driver’s seat. Under the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) program, hospital providers and physician leaders are the only ones who can initiate episodes of care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]
Timely physician visits will play a central role in effectively capturing resident conditions — and reimbursements — under the new Medicare payment model. But with doctors seeing relatively few incentive changes amid the shift to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), skilled nursing operators must find ways to make physician collaboration as easy as possible. Medical […]
Executives from Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) have been largely mum about the company’s ongoing integration of HCR ManorCare’s skilled nursing facilities into its overall portfolio, but when pressed Tuesday, leaders hinted that the metrics are moving in the right direction. Occupancy at ManorCare SNFs has increased by more than 100 basis points, Welltower chief investment […]
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