As the federal government predicted, just under 5% of the nation’s nursing facilities received a new abuse warning icon on the consumer-facing Nursing Home Compare website — but the early data also reveals significant regional variations that could have an impact on valuations and bottom lines moving forward. Out of 15,262 total facilities, just 760 […]
Category: Medicare
Despite widespread anger in the skilled nursing industry, a controversial new warning icon for facilities with previous reports of abuse and neglect will affect only a relatively small proportion of properties, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Seema Verma told lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday. Testifying before the House Committee on Energy & […]
The federal government’s top health care watchdog logged an increase in nursing home complaints last year, according to the most recent set of data from the Department of Health and Human Services, in tandem with a 23% rise in high-priority incidents that were not investigated within the proper timeframe. The HHS Office of the Inspector […]
With a little more than a month to go before the final changes to the baseline Medicare and Medicaid requirements for nursing homes take effect, several key questions about complying with the rules remain — prompting at least one group to ask for a formal delay. The third and final updates to the Requirements of […]
Though it’s too soon to tell what effect the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes will have on resident outcomes, the head of a leading industry trade group says operators will deserve everything regulators can dream up if changing treatment patterns lead to worse care. “If we don’t do better, we should be crushed […]
In a health care landscape full of challenges, staffing consistently ranks as the top concern for skilled nursing facilities. But the second-most prevalent concern is patients and residents who have mental health needs and substance use disorders, according to a top federal official — and there are no easy answers for how SNFs should cope. […]
The federal government on Thursday rolled out yet another initiative aimed at nursing home safety, announcing a multi-pronged effort to strengthen its oversight of State Survey Agencies (SSAs). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will implement a variety of new assessment tools in the State Performance Standards System (SPSS), its rubric for grading […]
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 […]
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 […]
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