Medication management is as much art as science in a patient’s final days, and that can present multifaceted caregiving challenges for hospice providers
As staffing minimum looms, other workforce solutions simmer on back burner
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 02, 2023
A long-awaited federal rule that could rewrite how nursing home owners and operators staff their buildings is in the final stage of review before being released publicly.
CDC: C. auris spreading at ‘alarming’ rate in U.S. healthcare facilities
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 22, 2023
Drug-resistant Candida auris, a known threat to nursing homes, has spread rapidly, and a growing number of cases are resistant to first-line treatment, federal researchers report.
‘Another layer of protection’: Senior care industry commends feds’ booster vaccine decision
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 27, 2021
Industry advocates are welcoming the decision to include residents of long-term care settings and healthcare workers in a new federal recommendation to offer COVID-19 booster shots to at-risk adults.
Coronavirus rates drop 96% in nursing homes, but some see first-ever cases in new year
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 31, 2021
More than 430 nursing homes saw their first-ever COVID cases in early 2021, evidence that continued infection control measures are needed, and despite phenomenal declines in facility rates, says the U.S....
Therapy relief, but also plenty of provider concerns with newly published CMS payment rule
By
Marty Stempniak
Jul 30, 2018
The federal government is delivering relief to therapy providers from a burdensome and long-running rule, but also causing concern for skilled care providers
$2K daily fines poised to begin ‘within days’ as NY staffing rule upheld
By
Josh Henreckson
Jan 16, 2024
Long-term care providers took a legal blow when a New York state Supreme Court judge struck down a legal challenge to the state’s staffing mandate law, and now providers could be days away from incurring...
Another state takes the Medicaid MCO plunge as questions about delayed, denied care mount
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Oct 13, 2023
As Indiana transitions its senior and long-term care Medicaid beneficiaries into plans run by several managed care organizations, a snag in the rollout is giving skilled nursing providers another reason...
Less post-acute care worsens outcomes, Medicare Advantage patients reveal in new study
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 21, 2023
Fewer Medicare Advantage enrollees report using post-acute care services than traditional Medicare beneficiaries. But even when they do use them, a new study finds that those MA patients report more undesirable...
Omicron renders Pfizer vaccine less effective; variant surge to hit U.S. by January
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 15, 2021
The vaccine is less able to prevent infection, but retains 70% protection against hospitalization, a new study shows. The news comes as federal health officials warn that omicron is spreading rapidly in...