In an update to a report issued in July, two Democratic senators had sharp words for the federal response to COVID-19 in U.S. nursing homes, arguing that the Trump administration has failed to take sufficient action to protect nursing home residents and workers from the pandemic. They pointed in particular to policy solutions that multiple […]
Category: COVID-19
Under regulations instituted as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, skilled nursing facilities are reporting a wealth of information to the federal government — on top of all the information they were required to submit pre-pandemic. And that information could end up being the guiding light for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the limitations of the current system of nursing home care in the united states, and without major changes, nursing homes are not – and will not – be able to deal with major pandemics such as the current one, according to several authors writing in the National Academy of Medicine […]
For Melody Taylor Stark, navigating life after her husband Bill required long-term nursing care hasn’t always been easy, but with the help of some caring staffers and a little bit of creativity, the couple was able to settle into something like normalcy. Friday nights out at a restaurant became takeout shared over a table that […]
The COVID-19 pandemic blindsided the skilled nursing sector when it hit in late winter and early spring this year, but the field has to be willing to acknowledge pre-existing problems with infection control and make changes accordingly. That’s according to Mark Parkinson, the leader of the nursing home trade group the American Health Care Association […]
After the New York Times editorial board published a piece criticizing the nation’s response to the effects of COVID-19 on nursing homes, the head of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) raised several objections on behalf of the Trump administration. “The administration took early, rapid action: We issued infection control guidance to prepare […]
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to batter skilled nursing occupancy well into the month of June, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care’s (NIC) Skilled Nursing Monthly Report, with census sinking to a new low even as the pace of decline slowed. In a blog post published September 10, NIC senior principal […]
How COVID-19 Units Helped Nursing Homes Weather the Storm — and How They Can Fight the Flu This Fall
When the COVID-19 pandemic began to gather momentum in the U.S. in spring, one of the earliest strategies for combatting the virus in skilled nursing facilities was to cohort patients with the disease in designated areas — or even set up entire facilities dedicated to the care of these patients. The Centers for Medicare & […]
Nursing homes in New York with unionized workforces had lower mortality rates from COVID-19, as well as greater access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and lower COVID-19 infection rates, according to a new study released September 10 in the journal Health Affairs. Specifically, health care unions in nursing homes were associated with a 1.29 percentage […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a pall on interactions across the U.S., the social needs of residents of skilled nursing facilities are mounting by the day. Many of them have been in various states of lockdown since March, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a ban on all unnecessary […]
The federal government on Tuesday announced a plan to send a new set of point-of-care COVID-19 testing devices, from the medical device manufacturer Abbott, to nursing homes starting next week. And while the new round of devices is welcome for skilled nursing providers, many of the questions around paying for supplies and using the devices […]
When skilled nursing facilities went into lockdown in March to try to keep COVID-19 out of their buildings, group activities and all nonessential visitors and personnel were banned. How nursing homes interpreted the definition of “essential” personnel could vary, but Executive Mental Health, a psychology practice based in Los Angeles that provides services to acute […]
Outbreaks of COVID-19 have continued in long-term care facilities across the U.S., with an attendant rise in cumulative cases and deaths. But an issue brief on the case data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) published last week also suggests that mitigation efforts might be having a positive impact on the outbreaks’ severity. Predictably, total […]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating a nursing home in Beaver County, Pa., where more than 300 residents and staff were infected with COVID-19 and at least 73 residents and a housekeeper died. TribLive, the website of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, first reported the news. Investigators with the agency on Thursday served warrants at […]
The nation’s top COVID-19 testing official gave more insight into the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) efforts to expedite and expand the use of rapid point-of-care antigen testing in skilled nursing facilities across the U.S. during a media briefing held Tuesday. HHS announced on Monday that it was expanding coverage for licensed health […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monday that it is extending coverage for prescribing or administering point-of-care COVID-19 tests to screen for the illness in congregate settings such as skilled nursing facilities. The move overrules state directives that restrict or ban outright the use of such tests. The extension of coverage under […]
With COVID-19 forcing skilled nursing facilities to drastically restrict visitation, technology and virtual communication have emerged as critical tools to maintain social ties between residents and their loved ones. And there are federal funds — collected from facilities deemed to have run afoul of various rules — available to help SNFs bolster their technological offerings. […]
The state of Washington is cutting back on the increase it provided to Medicaid reimbursement to nursing homes, a move that drew sharp criticism from nursing home trade groups and advocates. The news was first reported by NBC affiliate KING 5 in Washington on August 21. As part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act […]
More than one in five nursing homes reported “severe” shortfalls of both personal protective equipment (PPE) and staffing, a new study published in the journal Health Affairs found — and those shortages did not meaningfully improve from May to July. The study is scheduled for publication in a later print edition of the journal, with […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed Wednesday that the federal government is on track to ship point-of-care COVID-19 testing devices to all skilled nursing facilities with the proper waivers by the end of September — as one of two dedicated device manufacturers has emerged to shoulder more of the load. “We are […]