The potential break-up between hospitals and long-term care
By
Elizabeth Newman
Apr 17, 2014
The attempts of the hospital lobby and long-term care to move beyond casually dating to going steady hit a snag at the steps of a courthouse Monday.
CMS releases Medicare physician payment information, includes some nursing home affiliations
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 10, 2014
Long-term care providers and residents now can glean insights into where their local doctors stack up nationally by referring to newly released data on Medicare physician payments. For the first time ever,...
LTC must pursue collaboration to reduce readmissions
By
Imran Javaid
Mar 24, 2014
Acute and post-acute providers are increasingly uniting around a shared goal – to lower hospital readmission rates for elderly and other vulnerable patients. Many caregivers and payers agree that...
CMS clarifies rules regarding vaccines, respite care for hospice patients
By
Tim Mullaney
Feb 11, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has loosened regulatory language regarding which providers can furnish vaccines to hospice patients, and has tightened enforcement of a five-day payment limit...
CMS wants tighter oversight for Medicare prescriptions
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 01, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has seen enough and wants to gain more control over drug-prescribing practices for the Medicare Part D program.
CMS announces declining readmission rate for Medicare patients, credits Affordable Care Act
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 09, 2013
Improved transitions between acute and post-acute settings are partly responsible for continuing nationwide declines in hospital readmission rates, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Feds ease auditing reviews, anti-fraud efforts to surge
By
John O'Connor
Dec 01, 2013
Providers likely will embrace House legislation that eases billing reviews for operators deemed a low fraud risk.
CMS too burdened and focused on cost to be the epicenter of long-term care reform, experts say
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 21, 2013
Most long-term care reforms rely on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for implementation, but the overburdened agency cannot manage all the needed changes in this area, according to a panel...
Nursing homes will be subject to escrow for all civil monetary penalties, CMS announces
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 05, 2013
Nursing homes facing a civil monetary penalty due to any type of deficiency will be subject to escrow and entitled to request an independent informal dispute resolution process, according to a newly issued...
Don’t consolidate quality groups to regionals: AHCA
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 01, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should not waver from its long-standing support of state-based quality improvement organizations, the American Health Care Association and nearly 50 other organizations...