Providers worry they might not be able to meet staff fingerprinting deadline, leading to forced terminations
By
Danielle Brown
Jul 07, 2021
Connecticut long-term care providers are quickly trying to comply with a state mandate that requires healthcare workers hired during the pandemic to submit fingerprints for a background check by July 20...
Nursing homes down 200K frontline workers, with more COVID cases on the way
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 29, 2021
The U.S. is facing a certified nurse aide shortage of about 200,000, with the situation made more dire by a surging number of unvaccinated aides being forced to quarantine with cases of a new COVID-19...
CMS continues emergency preparedness exemptions for some providers
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 22, 2021
Long-term care providers still struggling with COVID-19 and working under their activated emergency plans will continue to be exempt from their next required full-scale emergency exercise, according to...
Pressure mounting on CMS to exclude COVID vaccination data in quality reporting
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 18, 2021
More long-term care stakeholders are calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ditch its proposal to expand the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program to include staff COVID-19...
Skilled nursing occupancy ticked upward for a second month. Will such small gains be enough?
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 04, 2021
Skilled nursing occupancy climbed ever-so-slightly for a second straight month in March, reaching 71.6%, according to the latest NIC MAP data released Thursday afternoon.
Providers tell CMS it’s ‘decidedly’ the wrong time to toy with PDPM rates
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 03, 2021
Providers need more time before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would implement any adjustments to PDPM payment rates, operators and associations have told the agency in official comments.
CMS: Lower COVID rates linked to higher nursing home quality ratings
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 02, 2021
Higher facility star ratings are tied to lower COVID transmission rates and fewer deaths, according to the agency’s chief medical officer and director of its Center for Clinical Standards and Quality.
Mandating perfection: Unsatisfied with above-average rates, more providers add staff vaccination requirements
By
Danielle Brown
May 27, 2021
Impressive 88% and 85% vaccination rates among nursing home and assisted living staffers aren’t enough for the New Jersey-based operator Jewish Family Home. The provider announced Tuesday that it is...
Scholarship fund created for families of frontline healthcare workers felled by COVID-19
By
Danielle Brown
May 27, 2021
Family members of frontline healthcare workers who died due to COVID-19 now have an additional support tool for those planning to further their education.
CMS: Surveyors looking for education, not expertise, under COVID-19 vaccine rule that starts today
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 21, 2021
Nursing homes will not be expected to turn their staff members into vaccine experts under a new rule that requires all workers to be offered COVID-19 shots and to be educated about them, a federal official...