A government shutdown has been temporarily averted – for 45 days at least – after Congress passed a stopgap bill Saturday evening. And while skilled nursing and other long-term care operators and their reimbursements would not have been immediately impacted, the industry could have seen indirect ramifications. So for now, the sector – whose members […]
AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine
Mixed reactions to the nursing home minimum staffing mandate continued to roll in over the weekend – along with an editorial from President Joe Biden – following a first glimpse of the proposal on Friday. As the president underlined the need for more staff to improve quality, the 24/7 provision for registered nurses (RNs) continued […]
Infection prevention and control is always front and center at nursing homes and ever more so now in the midst of growing concerns over drug-resistant superbugs, such as Candida auris. While these infections are on the rise, a change to Covid-era protocols has meant less money for infection prevention efforts. However, clinical experts say that […]
Deadly fungus Candida auris has spread across more than 27 states, with Nevada and New York leading as hot spots. Given that nursing homes are particularly prone to the drug-resistant fungal infection, experts are concerned about its continuing climb ever since the government’s report last month, and media outlets continue to shine a light on […]
On the heels of warnings about the spread of deadly fungal infection of Candida auris, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now raising alarms about widespread resistance against antimicrobial drugs — with long-term care settings particularly at risk of some resulting “superbugs.” Medical experts and government agencies are cautioning that unless the use of antimicrobial […]
Skilled nursing workers are in the midst of a mass exodus from the profession, and not even unprecedented wage increases can compensate for the concerns of the 238,000 caregivers who have left the industry since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The combination of workload, environment, culture and the physical and emotional strain exacerbated an […]
To combat staffing shortages, states continue to deploy a wide range of tactics to boost recruitment, however, without better safeguards against price gouging staffing agencies operators fear care disruptions may continue. For some, working with staffing agencies has proven to be necessary. Others like Wisconsin’s Bloomfield Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center closed its doors in part […]
Some nursing home advocacy groups and operators, upon the Thursday release of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate guidance, say execution will only make the current workforce crisis worse. Others believe employer-initiated mandates indicate less of a workforce loss, with operators like St. Louis, Mo.-based St. Andrew’s Resources for Seniors System (STARRS) losing less than 2% […]
Senior care advocacy group LeadingAge on Monday became the latest organization to call for vaccine mandates among long-term care providers, encouraging its members to make the shots a condition of employment. The push comes as COVID-19 cases rise, linked to the delta variant and lagging vaccination rates among nursing home workers. Roughly 83% of new […]
Seven leading national organizations in the medical field released a statement this week advocating vaccination requirements for health care facility employees. The groups said vaccination against COVID-19 should be a condition of employment. They went on to say the country will not achieve a sufficient vaccination rate otherwise. The current national percentage of vaccinated skilled […]
With two COVID-19 vaccines officially authorized for use, the immunization of health care workers and long-term care facility residents is finally underway in earnest. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) COVID-19 vaccine on December 11 and to Moderna’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) on December 18. There are several considerations […]
One state’s ban on the use of point-of-care tests for COVID-19 in skilled nursing facilities has been withdrawn after sharp criticism from the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). But the incident highlights the confusion around the use of the tests – and the need for clearer federal guidance on […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for high-level clinicians in nursing facilities, but a pending change to Medicare reimbursements could force physicians to take a steep pay cut in order to continue to practicing in post-acute and long-term care — or push them further and further out of the space. The Medicare Physician Fee […]
A federal working group this week released a new report outlining how nursing homes and other long-term care facilities should marshal limited resources during future COVID-19 outbreaks and other public health crises. As operators stare down the fall flu season and the continued risk of coronavirus spread, leaders should focus on identifying the top challenges […]
In calling for a complete overhaul of the way the government and society view long-term and post-acute care, a prominent group of geriatricians argued that the fractured response to COVID-19 in nursing homes may have caused more harm than good in many areas. Three leaders from AMDA, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, […]
One day after the federal government announced an ambitious plan to send point-of-care testing units for COVID-19 to all of the nation’s more than 15,000 nursing homes, leaders in the space expressed cautious optimism — while often emphasizing that they have more questions than firm answers. Starting next week, the Department of Health and Human […]
Without the funds and the resources needed to meet COVID-19 testing recommendations, the federal government’s guidance on reopening nursing homes could create more confusion for skilled nursing facilities — and more challenges on top of the considerable strain they already face in combating the spread of the illness. “At a high level, I really think […]
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