Nursing homes announce campaign to lessen poor outcomes, decrease employee turnover
By
John Hall
May 08, 2015
Increasing staff stability, adopting a customer satisfaction questionnaire, reducing unintended healthcare outcomes, reducing hospital readmissions, improving discharges to the community, and adopting...
Fee-for-service still consumes most Medicare outlays: Report
By
John Hall
May 07, 2015
Far more than half of the $360 billion in Medicare payments made just two years ago were based on traditional fee-for-service models without regard to quality or value, according to an independent report...
Certain brand name meds drive up Part D prices, CMS finds
By
John Hall
May 04, 2015
A popular acid reflux medication was the costliest drug paid for by Medicare Part D in 2013, while a blood pressure medication was the most frequently prescribed, according to a new report on prescription...
Plan would address inspection backlog, limit inspection duties
By
John Hall
May 01, 2015
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is reportedly seeking to realign nursing home inspection and oversight duties to address a chronic backlog of investigations into abuse and other violations, while limiting...
Nurses, assistants most injury prone in healthcare: CDC
By
John Hall
Apr 30, 2015
Healthcare jobs have long been among the riskiest, most dangerous and injury-prone occupations around. Nurses and nurse assistants are the unluckiest among them, according to a new report from the Centers...
HIPAA audits to resume soon
By
John Hall
Apr 29, 2015
Long-term care providers should get ready for the second round of HIPAA compliance audits this year, but the agency in charge of them is keeping mum about the exact date.
Obamacare repeal efforts, Medicare privatization support waning
By
John Hall
Apr 28, 2015
While a series of successive defeats may have tempered the resolve of many Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a small group of conservatives is pushing a new approach to fast track such efforts....
Smart cards would do little to curtail Medicare fraud: GAO
By
John Hall
Apr 28, 2015
Medicare beneficiary smart cards would have a limited impact on reducing fraud and could even introduce “new, more sophisticated fraud schemes,” a new report by the Government Accountability...
Online forum will explain new home health rating system
By
John Hall
Apr 24, 2015
A special one-hour, web-based open door forum will be held May 7 to explain to providers the new set of star ratings for the Home Health Compare website, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.
Nursing home association wants no part of Medicaid managed care
By
John Hall
Apr 23, 2015
Managed care is not being warmly embraced by long-term care providers everywhere. Nearly 40 states are in various completion phases of transitioning to privatized Medicaid managed care systems, but Louisiana’s...