Anticipated Five-Star updates must drive changes to daily operations: expert
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 26, 2024
Upcoming changes to Five-Star rating methodology will require long-term care providers to overhaul several key daily processes related to staffing and quality measure reporting, an informatics specialist...
Meet Phillip Hill, 2024 McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards ‘Agent of Change’ honoree
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Apr 26, 2024
When he was studying accounting, Phillip Hill probably never thought his career would include a groundbreaking relationship with Eli Lilly. An administrator for Principle Long Term Care, he partnered with...
Report: Heart failure death rate climbs, perhaps as a result of pandemic
By
Kristen Fischer
Apr 25, 2024
Reports on heart failure mortality during the past several years show that it’s on the rise more recently compared to declines, but a research letter released Wednesday in JAMA Cardiology blames the...
Wait-and-see staffing rule exemptions meant to ‘safeguard’ residents: CMS
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 25, 2024
Skilled nursing providers will not have to go through a stand-alone application process to be exempted from provisions of a new federal staffing mandate, an official with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
Partnerships with pharmacists increasingly important for complex resident needs, care transitions: experts
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 24, 2024
Building relationships and formal partnerships between long-term care providers and pharmacists is increasingly vital to managing resident care, experts said at a Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition...
Minnesota lawmakers ax measure to ensure visitors access to nursing homes
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 24, 2024
As advocates work to advance a federal bill ensuring “essential caregivers” can visit nursing home residents even during emergencies, one state is taking the opposite stance.
Providers: Staffing rule a CMS ‘fairy tale’ that will ‘exacerbate’ nursing home access issue
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 23, 2024
Despite minor concessions in a staffing mandate issued Monday, many nursing home providers were shell-shocked by what they saw as federal regulators’ intractable stance on minimums at a time when nearly...
EXTRA: CMS publishes rule outlining final staffing requirements
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 22, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it would exempt nursing homes from having registered nurse coverage for up to 8 out of 24 hours a day “under certain circumstances,” unveiling...
Nursing homes weigh pros, cons of new weight loss drugs as limited Medicare coverage kicks in
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 22, 2024
A recent decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to cover popular new weight loss drugs that provide additional health benefits could be a “game changer” for potentially thousands...
Medicare audits ‘ramping up’ with isolation coding in the crosshairs
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 22, 2024
Auditors are paying special attention to isolation and quarantine coding amid already heightened Medicare nursing home audits that are expected to increase in coming months, experts warn.