New law eliminates fines for nursing homes that fix problems
May 29, 2009
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) this week enacted a law that eliminates fines against nursing homes that identify and correct health and safety issues on their own accord. The law sets out new rules and guidelines...
Healthcare officials eliminate nursing home assessment protocols
May 29, 2009
It’s a wrap on RAPs. Resident Assessment Protocols (RAPs) will be eliminated under a new assessment regimen in development, an official with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced...
CMS to test cash incentives for nursing home quality, efficiency efforts
Mar 30, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday announced a new, four-state demonstration project to test whether cash incentives will help improve quality and efficiency in nursing homes.
Initial results of five-star ratings: Nonprofit nursing homes deliver better care, analysis shows
Dec 19, 2008
Nonprofit nursing homes provide a higher quality of care than for-profit facilities, according to an analysis by USA Today of the first ratings of nursing homes by the government’s five-star rating...
CMS asks 30,000 Medicare providers to take part in survey
Dec 17, 2008
The fourth annual Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services healthcare provider satisfaction survey is on its way, the agency announced Tuesday.
For most nursing assistants, it’s about answering the call, study finds
Aug 29, 2008
Most nursing assistants in nursing homes enter the field to help others, according to the National Nursing Assistant Survey, a detailed sampling of the attitudes and opinions of nursing assistants. Released...
Regulators go overtime fielding comments and questions on nursing home star-rating system
Jun 25, 2008
While the focus of regulators’ “Open Door Forum” conference call Tuesday might have first appeared to be about getting ready for the December rollout of a new nursing home ranking system,...
Nursing home operators lose 93% of appeals: report
Jun 04, 2008
The federal government won 66 of 71 appeals cases brought by nursing home providers last year according to a recent report from the Center for Medicare Advocacy. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...
GAO nursing home survey not accurate, Oklahoma officials say
May 20, 2008
Many in the nursing home field have been taken aback by the Government Accountability Office report released last week. Now one state, which ranks among the worst in the country in terms of nursing home...
Poll: Public’s concern over healthcare costs rising
Apr 30, 2008
Healthcare costs are the third-most common economic problem for U.S. residents, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. More than one-fourth (28%) of respondents said the...