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 […]
Category: COVID-19
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 […]
The California Department of Health will be changing how state surveyors inspect nursing facilities, with an eye toward the conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — and critics in the Golden State argued that the changes could lead to worse outcomes for patients. The station NBC Bay Area — KNTV reported on the change on […]
Perhaps a year ago — allowing for the murkiness of remembering timelines before COVID-19 — I got an unusual recommendation from an executive at a senior housing and skilled nursing lender: Report on the history of companies that used to be major players in the skilled nursing space. A news website that provides new content […]
The infectious nature of COVID-19 makes it imperative that skilled nursing facilities take extra precautions around any new admissions that they bring in, as well as any residents that are returning from a hospital stay. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the procedure for SNFs is straightforward: Keep any COVID-19-positive patients […]
The costs of operating a skilled nursing facility have increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new survey from the nursing home trade group American Health Care Association indicates that providers may not be able to keep up with them much longer. The survey, which drew from the responses of 463 nursing home providers […]
The future of one of the largest skilled nursing operators in the U.S. is deeply uncertain because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that uncertainty extends to the actual effects of the emergency — which in one state could be crippling and in another, barely noticeable depending on the extent of the disease spread. For the […]
UPDATE, August 11: An earlier version of this story indicated that a portion of the $5 billion in relief funding for nursing homes will be based on prior performance. Speaking at a virtual event Tuesday, American Health Care Association president and CEO Mark Parkinson clarified that the value-based initiatives will be exclusively prospective, with only […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of medical care and infection control at skilled nursing facilities with an unrelenting spotlight, but one operator believes that its role as an insurance provider has given it a leg up in dealing with some of the challenges — and in thinking about the future. The Norcross, Ga.-based […]
States that saw waves of nursing home deaths during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic have already begun to flex new regulatory muscle, with New Jersey mulling a series of reforms and New York formally repealing a controversial liability shield for facility operators. First up, a package of bills was introduced on July 31 […]
The first major outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. struck a skilled nursing facility in the state of Washington, but it was the East Coast that took a tremendous beating in the initial surge of the disease. SNFs on the Atlantic side of the U.S. were not spared, and had to grapple how […]
The federal government is shipping 398 point-of-care COVID-19 testing devices to 384 skilled nursing facilities this week, along with 199,000 tests, with a continued focus on states with significant outbreaks, according to an update from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The shipments come on top of 654 testing instruments sent to 635 […]
The New York State Senate and Assembly voted on July 23 to partially repeal liability protections granted to nursing homes, hospitals, and other health care facilities as part of the state budget passed in April. Nexstar Broadcasting initially reported the news July 24. New York’s budget for fiscal 2021 included the Emergency or Disaster Treatment […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 22 released the list of the first skilled nursing facilities to receive point-of-care COVID-19 testing devices under an initiative announced last week. The nursing homes identified by CMS will be receiving Quidel Sofia and Sofia 2 Instruments and BD Veritor Plus Systems, along with the […]
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