As government entities and organizations in the nursing home space are scrambling for policy changes to regulate staffing agencies, they seem to be prioritizing legislation that addresses price gouging while worker classification also remains on the table. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) introduced in Congress in 2021 and currently being examined […]
General staffing metrics used to assess quality of care hold less weight these days and need to be updated, experts say, because the entire skilled nursing industry is struggling to build and retain its workforce. These quality measures need to be presented through the lens of the pandemic and the staffing crisis, SNF leaders say. […]
With the end of the public health emergency, industry stakeholders said the development of Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) are of more interest to skilled nursing operators than ever before. Mark Price, Chief Executive Officer of Curana Health, said the interest level in I-SNPs has significantly increased in the past few months. “With the end […]
As acuity continues to rise among nursing home residents, providers say reimbursement needs to change too – and not just the dollar amount. Incentives should be based on quality of care, and the industry will need to build out specific reimbursement models to match expanded acuity specialities, especially as value-based care becomes more and more […]
Last week, Cascadia Healthcare officially took over management of three facilities formerly operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, with the remaining six buildings in the transitioning portfolio scheduled to follow suit in April and May. The transition process is going smoothly, with each building presenting a “microcosm of opportunity,” Cascadia President and CEO […]
The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, one of the largest skilled nursing providers in the United States, plans to consolidate its operations from 22 states to seven. Once the process is complete, the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Good Samaritan Society will have operations in South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. About […]
Nursing home operators and workers are warning that an onerous and punitive approach to surveys is contributing to administrator burnout and deepening the ongoing labor crisis. “I was working at least 12 hour days every single day, and working the floor as a CNA as well, in addition to doing the administrator job because of […]
As nursing home operators find themselves in the middle of a tripledemic – with Covid-19 cases, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the flu on the rise during winter months – concerted efforts to get staff and residents boosted against Covid have fallen by the wayside. And nursing home operators dealing with staffing shortages and burnout, […]
The top quotes of 2022 memorably captured some of the biggest skilled nursing issues of the year, from “shocking” payment policies to “colossal” regulatory issues to “transformative” changes. The quotes below not only serve as reminders about what transpired over the last 12 months, but touch on many issues that are still pressing as 2023 […]
An already risky move to turnaround a building on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Special Focus Facility list may become an even greater challenge. Those that have taken on the task say recent punitive restrictions could mean less operators will opt to purchase these types of facilities in future. In turn, especially […]
In its latest move to increase scrutiny of the skilled nursing industry, the Biden administration is toughening requirements for nursing homes that fall into its Special Focus Facilities (SFF) program. Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is making completion requirements more challenging and increasing enforcement actions if SNFs fail to show improvement, […]
The majority of nursing homes will not be able to take advantage of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated mask policy as many are still in high transmission zones for Covid-19. The CDC last month issued updated guidance that removed its blanket masking policy to better reflect vaccine efforts, infection-induced immunity and […]
Many investors have not shied away from the skilled nursing industry in spite of the ongoing labor shortages, rising costs and looming federal regulations consuming operators — and they don’t appear to be doing so anytime soon. Private buyers have continued to buy up the overwhelming majority of available assets, closing roughly $1 billion in […]
Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors helped facilitate the sale of a 92-bed skilled nursing facility located in Colville, Wash. Pinewood Terrace was a “unique opportunity” for a regional owner/operator to purchase the facility for an “appealing price per bed with assumable attractive HUD financing,” according to a news release. Skilled nursing operator Cascadia Healthcare ultimately […]
The licensed practical nurse (LPN) is a crucial, but often overlooked piece of the nursing home workforce puzzle, according to industry leaders, with minimum staffing ratios focusing more on the certified nursing assistant (CNA) and the registered nurse (RN). LPNs are in the building every day and know the residents, but also have the clinical […]
The director of nursing (DON) role has picked up dozens of additional responsibilities during the pandemic, clinical leaders say, as the nursing home sector continues to work through a historic staffing shortage. The result can amount to, at times, an “extremely stressful” position, according to North Shore Healthcare Chief Clinical Officer Tina Belongia. DONs across […]
While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been winding down certain waivers tied to the public health emergency (PHE), the agency has been noticeably silent about what could be the most impactful of the pandemic-related waivers – suspension of the three-day stay requirement. Industry leaders aren’t holding out much hope that the […]
Operators are feeling pressure from all sides as the proposed payment rule for the nursing home industry dropped on Monday, which unveiled a 4.6% cut to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) and 3.9% increase to Medicare payments for the sector. The news comes at a time when SNFs are facing a historic workforce shortage, rising […]
Staffing is unequivocally, and unsurprisingly, the top challenge for the skilled nursing industry in 2022. That’s according to the Skilled Nursing News 2022 outlook survey, conducted online late last year as a way to identify the top sources of concern and opportunities leaders saw in the year ahead. Labor challenges are not only widespread, but […]
As the omicron variant propelled some acute and post-acute settings into crisis standards of care during the latest COVID-19 surge, skilled nursing facilities are again asking themselves and their community hospitals how the two parts of the care continuum can collaborate. Nursing home operators have continued taking residents from hospitals for a more transitory timeframe […]
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