Special Focus Facilities label not a poison pill for savvy nursing home operators
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 07, 2019
The publicity surrounding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ “worst performers” list this week has wrongly painted some providers into a bleak corner, defenders say. An operation with...
Nursing home staffing shortages will lead to fines under ‘historic’ new law
By
James M. Berklan
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 07, 2019
Nursing home workers are cheering passage of a bill that will penalize providers who under-staff their facilities, and in what might be a surprise to some, operators are also taking a supporting position...
Thousands of dual-eligible seniors hit with Medicaid termination notices
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 07, 2019
Lawyers in Georgia are trying to determine why an estimated 17,000 seniors who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid have been told they will be kicked out of the Medicaid program. After several...
Also in the News for Friday, June 7
Jun 07, 2019
New ventilator infection recommendations issued in wake of pediatric long-term care deaths … HABIT, other behavioral interventions offset mild cognitive impairment …Pharmacy benefit managers are...
Thin-skinned
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 06, 2019
BAndrew Applewhite’s patient had HIV and diabetes. She needed dialysis, but she had used up all the days in her Medicare stay and was discharged from a Texas skilled nursing facility. That the patient...
Shock boosters might extend healing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 06, 2019
Shockwave therapy “boosters” appear to extend the effectiveness of an initial treatment for diabetic foot ulcers, according to new research out of Taiwan. Doctors at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital...
Negative pressure, pig gut show promise for healing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 06, 2019
Combining a porcine-based wound wrap with negative pressure wound therapy increased wound healing in a small group of patients with chronic, Stage IV pressure ulcers.
CMS, nursing homes reassure on quality amid ‘poor performance’ hubbub
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 06, 2019
Nursing homes’ top regulatory body announced Wednesday that it will soon begin posting the identities of all candidates for the Special Focus Facility initiative on a consumer-facing website. The Centers...
Citing staffing shortages, another hospital shutters its long-term care wing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 06, 2019
Relying largely on contracted staff when they couldn’t recruit enough nurses, leaders at Providence Health Care in Washington state could do little more than watch as costs for their 40-bed long-term...
Ensign adds to Texas holdings, pushing SNF portfolio close to 200
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 06, 2019
The nation’s fifth-largest skilled nursing provider is getting bigger again, with the acquisition of a South Texas property bringing its portfolio to 198 operations. The Ensign Group announced the sale,...