The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), the overhaul to Medicare reimbursement for skilled nursing facilities that took effect in October of 2019, has proven its worth as a mechanism for paying for nursing care during a global pandemic. It has, however, been “anything but revenue-neutral,” at least in terms of how much money the government is […]
Even with limited data due to COVID-19, an annual benchmarking report found that the operating margin for skilled nursing facilities remained at zero for 2019. And given the costs of managing operations during the pandemic — to say nothing of the occupancy hit — the picture is bleak for margins in 2020. But for all […]
The federal authorities that regulate skilled nursing facilities issued a slew of changes to the rules governing nursing home care in the early months of spring as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the facilities. Some of those changes, such as the loosening of restrictions around the use of telemedicine, are […]
In the months leading up to the implementation of the Patient-Driven Payment Model, the overhaul of Medicare reimbursement for skilled nursing facilities that was implemented last year, several factors emerged as crucial areas for thriving under the new system. The Medicare rate of each facility is determined by a formula that draws from five care […]
A leading wound care provider sees expansion opportunity in both skilled nursing and the home despite the ongoing strains of COVID-19, with a recent private equity investment to back it up. American Medical Technologies in late August announced its acquisition by private equity firm One Equity Partners and investment management company The Silverfern Group, capping […]
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 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been slow to make moves on audit demonstrations for the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), the Medicare reimbursement overhaul for skilled nursing facilities that took effect last year. But that doesn’t mean that the agency has forgotten its promise to closely monitor patient outcomes and scrutinize SNFs’ […]
In the lead-up to the implementation of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) on October 1, 2019, consultants, therapists, and the federal government warned operators over and over that therapy minutes would come under intense scrutiny in the months following the start of the new Medicare reimbursement system. The model allowed for patients to receive up […]
The federal government late Friday released its proposed rule for skilled nursing facility payments for the coming fiscal year, which will see the nation’s nursing homes receive a 2.3% Medicare pay bump. “This estimated increase is attributable to a 2.7% market basket increase factor with a 0.4 percentage point reduction for multifactor productivity adjustment,” the […]
The new Medicare payment model for nursing homes was designed to eliminate the temptation to make key care decisions based solely on reimbursements, and not on individual residents’ needs. Though the early results from the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) have largely been positive for the industry, a group of researchers this week raised concerns about […]
The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was specifically designed to reimburse skilled nursing facilities based on the condition of the patients that they treat, rather than by the minutes of therapy provided to those patients. As part of the change, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included a 25% cap on group and concurrent […]
Despite a net loss for the quarter, skilled nursing operator Diversicare Healthcare Services (OTCQX: DVCR) touted its performance at the end of 2019, pointing to a 7.5% Medicare rate boost and generally positive performance under the new Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM). “With our portfolio changes behind us after the Kentucky exit and the implementation of the new […]
The early returns for the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes have been broadly positive, with multiple experts and operators pegging the revenue gains at a healthy but modest 5% to 6%. But the actual gains may be higher than those numbers betray, and several experts predict some kind of eventual adjustment from the […]
While the skilled nursing world has largely adapted to its new Medicare payment model, the home health industry is currently in the midst of its own seismic shift — a change that could potentially open the door for nursing homes to grow in the space as smaller agencies rush for the exits. The new Patient-Driven […]
The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) overhauled the way skilled nursing facilities are paid for their services to Medicare fee-for-service patients when it took effect last year – removing therapy as a driver of reimbursement and putting an emphasis on patient conditions. That gives it more than a passing resemblance to a lightning rod in the […]
The federal government on Thursday acknowledged some errors in processing Medicare claims under the new payment system for nursing homes, promising to make a full correction by the start of its next fiscal year. The main issue has to do with the sequence of initial claim filings for Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) reimbursements, the Centers […]
Attend any conference geared toward long-term and post-acute health care operators, and you’ll hear a common thread: Data is king. In a landscape defined by value-based payment models such as Medicare Advantage plans and accountable care organizations (ACOs), investing in data analytics has become almost a prerequisite for success. If a given operator can prove […]
Seema Verma on Tuesday laid out a sweeping plan for data-driven oversight and enforcement across the health care spectrum, and took a similarly broad view of her agency’s regulatory plans when directly asked about potential changes to the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes. Specifically citing the early success of the agency’s recent push […]
Despite steady reports of increasing reimbursements under the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes, at least one industry leader believes that the federal government will be happy with the early returns — and that any changes are fairly far down the road. Skilled nursing operators have not gone overboard with the strategy changes that […]
Data from the first quarter of the new Medicare payment model has been generally positive for skilled nursing operators, but it’s important for players in the space to realize that we’re still in the early innings of a change that could take years to sort out fully. Despite the news of per-day payment bumps under […]