Netsmart expands coding, billing services with QIRT acquisition
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 02, 2020
Netsmart has acquired post-acute healthcare consulting firm Quality In Real Time, the companies announced Tuesday. Together, Netsmart and QIRT will be the largest service provider in the post-acute community,...
Increases in non-COVID infections ‘wipe out’ decade of progress
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 03, 2021
The CDC’s new report of a spike in healthcare associated infections is alarming, says the nation’s leading infection control group. One bright spot for nursing homes: CDC found no increase in Clostridium...
Remote patient monitoring goes where providers can’t
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 06, 2020
Two companies have unveiled expanded remote patient monitoring platforms that help providers track patient vitals after discharge, a resource surging in popularity with the advent of COVID-19. 100Plus,...
Link Medicaid hikes to worker pay to promote staff equity, researchers say
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 08, 2022
Tying increases in state Medicaid rates to wages would be an important way to address the disproportionate representation of Black women in long-term care’s lowest paying positions, say researchers...
Providers: Staffing rule a CMS ‘fairy tale’ that will ‘exacerbate’ nursing home access issue
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 23, 2024
Despite minor concessions in a staffing mandate issued Monday, many nursing home providers were shell-shocked by what they saw as federal regulators’ intractable stance on minimums at a time when nearly...
COVID vaccine mandate will survive legal challenges, experts believe
By
Kimberly Marselas
Danielle Brown
Nov 10, 2021
The Biden administration is confident that legal challenges to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers will ultimately fail, and legal experts are largely in agreement. As a result, they are...
BREAKING NEWS: CMS gives skilled nursing 2.4% Medicare pay raise, unveils another new resident classification...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 27, 2018
In a flurry of activity late Friday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced an $850 million pay raise for skilled nursing facilities for fiscal 2019 that comes along with major simplifications...
Eschewing a ‘sweet spot’ for boutique-like service at any size: Creative Solutions’ Gary Blake
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 09, 2024
Gary Blake’s nameplate might say CEO, but in some ways, he envisions himself more as chief quality officer of Creative Solutions for Healthcare, the sprawling 159-facility skilled nursing company he...
Indecision: Sinking ships and endangering lives
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 20, 2021
Will Congress continue to turn a deaf ear to the nursing home crisis if residents are dying for want of stability, if hospitals are backed up and unable to discharge patients for lack of admitting facilities?
Nursing homes reimagine frontline roles, seek smoother regulatory pathways
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 22, 2023
In the wake of a historic shortage of nurses and assistants, America’s nursing homes have been forced to get creative when it comes to hiring, scheduling and retaining workers.