BREAKING: CMS says all healthcare staff must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4
By
Danielle Brown
Nov 04, 2021
Long-term care staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 under a new healthcare worker vaccination rule released early Thursday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
New guidance affirms providers’ right to reject religious exemptions for COVID vaccinations due to...
By
Danielle Brown
James M. Berklan
Oct 27, 2021
Long-term care providers shouldn’t read too much into updated COVID-19 vaccination guidance on religious exemptions released this week by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to...
Federal Trade Commission must protect short-staffed providers from price gouging: AHCA
By
Danielle Brown
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 22, 2021
The nation’s largest nursing home association this week added its voice to calls for federal intervention in alleged price gouging by direct care staffing agencies amid labor shortages exacerbated by...
OSHA seeks $83K fine of SNF for allegedly failing to protect staff from coronavirus
By
Danielle Brown
Oct 18, 2021
An Illinois skilled nursing facility could be hit with nearly $84,000 in penalties for allegedly failing to protect employees and other staff from COVID-19.
Price-gouging, poaching and thin patience: LTC providers seek fixes for anti-competitive staffing agencies
By
Kimberly Marselas
James M. Berklan
Oct 15, 2021
As the bidding war over frontline workers escalates, provider organizations across the country are seeking government intervention to force temporary staffing agencies to play by similar rules as nursing...
Local vaccine mandates adding punishing pressure
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 14, 2021
Philadelphia is among several cities and states to adopt their own mandates ahead of federal rule for healthcare workers that is expected later this month. Fast-approaching deadlines may trigger an avalanche...
As antipsychotic use appears to backslide among nursing home residents, risks mount
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 11, 2021
For more than a decade, patient advocates and federal regulators have called for a reduction in nursing homes’ use of antipsychotic medications, a class of drugs once widely associated with controlling...
State providing staffing support in mandate’s wake, despite critical media reports
By
Danielle Brown
Oct 08, 2021
New York officials are “proactively working” with long-term care providers experiencing staffing shortages tied to the pandemic and the state’s new COVID-19 vaccination mandate, according to a top...
CMS ‘getting pretty close’ to releasing details of COVID-19 vaccination mandate
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 05, 2021
Long-term care providers and other healthcare employers remain in the dark as to what will be required with the federal government’s impending COVID-19 vaccination mandate for employees.
Merck to seek emergency use for COVID-19 antiviral pill that cuts severe outcomes by 50 percent
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 04, 2021
Molnupiravir has reduced COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations by half in a new clinical trial. An orally delivered drug could offer unprecedented treatment convenience, the drug’s developers say.