Hospital discharge to skilled nursing facilities can benefit from certain protocols that are currently missing when patients make this transition between care settings, according to a new study. While the complexity of care transitions between nursing homes and hospitals is well known, investments in programs like Age Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) have become key to […]
Category: Staffing
Congestive heart failure impacts a large chunk of the nursing home population and is a particularly difficult condition to manage, often resulting in a high number of rehospitalizations. And yet while nursing home providers look to promising new solutions, the efforts to put them into widespread use are stymied by staffing problems. More than 6 […]
As the staffing minimum mandate inches closer to an official release, associations with ties to the nursing home industry continue to meet this week with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – the government agency currently reviewing the proposal. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) transferred the proposal to OMB for review […]
Nursing home operators in New York can expect to see assessments tied to the state minimum staffing standard as early as July 10, the state Department of Health said in a memo. Facilities that are out of compliance with the new staffing standards could receive civil monetary penalties of up to $2,000 per day, the […]
While many states have enacted long-anticipated Medicaid rebasing, some nursing home leaders say it’s too little too late. States like Iowa, with smaller facilities largely run by independent owners, are seeing closures despite receiving $15 million to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates beginning July 1. Reality has hit many such independent owners, according to Michael Beal, […]
Nursing home and labor leaders believe more labor organizing will happen in conjunction with the forthcoming federal staffing minimum mandate, as the sector has historically seen a low proportion of workers covered by union contracts. Having a federal standard in place could begin collective bargaining efforts, or maybe remove this sticking point in labor negotiations, […]
Concerns about lack of skilled nursing access for cancer patients, as well as oncology-related costs borne by skilled nursing facilities, have prompted operators to call for action from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Several nursing home professionals raised this issue in comments to CMS’ proposed Medicare payment update for 2024. One oncology […]
Owners, operators and landlords of Centers Health Care in New York are facing a lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday, which alleges the four SNFs illegally misused more than $83 million in taxpayer money. Diverted funds went toward, among other things, funding the purchase of Israeli airline El Al, according […]
Moving ahead with its reform initiatives to make nursing home ownership more transparent, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday began posting names of affiliated owners and aggregate data related to staffing and other metrics for ownership groups. The agency made the information available on Nursing Home Care Compare and data.cms.gov; consumers […]
Mergers & acquisitions activity is expected to remain “exorbitant,” and “voluminous” in the second half of the year for the nursing home industry despite higher interest rates, with transfer times slowed slightly by state regulations. This is the view held by industry brokers who spoke to Skilled Nursing News on the state of current deal […]
Legislative efforts to expand the types of positions that count toward Florida’s minimum staffing ratio seem to have backfired somewhat, as overall staffing levels in the state’s 700 nursing homes have declined within the past two years. That’s according to a report published by AARP Florida, which found that staffing levels dropped from 4.74 hours […]
As the skilled nursing sector awaits the proposed federal staffing mandate, leading industry operators renewed calls for funding the initiative, and said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should carry it out in phases while also adjusting staffing ratios based on the acuity of the resident populations being served. Speaking at Skilled Nursing […]
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been steadily increasing at nursing homes, as the technology begins to deliver on its promises to improve efficiencies in a wide variety of areas, from clinical outcomes to back-office work. And while ChatGPT is the attention-grabber these days, natural language processing is but one of the ways AI is […]
Clinical staff in nursing homes can successfully improve care and reduce hospitalizations by virtually monitoring patients, according to a study on novel nurse-driven virtual care models released Tuesday. The qualitative study of remote monitoring models has implications for addressing staffing challenges at nursing homes without compromising patient care. The Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis implemented a […]
Value-based care program (VBP) measures proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have long loomed over skilled nursing operators, and now it seems more are finally on their way for 2026. Staffing-related measures, rehospitalization, discharge and infection prevention are all areas of focus for CMS’ proposed and finalized measures alike. Moreover, proposals […]
Nursing home residents say they fear retaliation from staff for voicing their concerns – and asking for care and services to which they’re entitled – leading to unnecessary emotional, psychological and physical harm. Exacerbated workforce challenges play a big role in staff-resident relationships, as staff are “put in a position to fail residents” due to […]
As nursing home staffing agencies popped up amid the pandemic’s exacerbated staffing crisis, so too have litigation pitfalls for operators eager to fill shifts as the staffing crisis continues. One such pitfall that is expected to become a huge issue for operators is related to bringing 1099 workers, or independent contractors, for clinical positions into […]
A higher employment of physicians and advanced practitioners at nursing homes – or SNFists – isn’t associated with statistically significant changes in rehospitalization rates. Instead, facility adoption of these SNFists may represent a strategy by nursing homes to maintain rehospitalization rates as operators attempt to shift patient case mix in favor of those receiving post-acute […]
It’s no secret that temporary staffing agencies have been both a boon and bane for the nursing home industry, providing necessary but very costly labor during the pandemic. Staffing problems have persisted long enough in the post-Covid era to warrant their use, but pricing practices have led to an outcry and push for state regulation. […]
As rising acuity and reimbursement challenges stymy nursing home workforce growth, third party contracts have been increasingly responsible for providing daily services. Whether its providing resident-facing clinical work, including use of third party doctors, supplying medical equipment or rendering back office services that focus more on ensuring proper documentation for reimbursement, third parties are increasingly […]
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