‘Sky is the limit’ for health information networks’ SNF insights
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 23, 2024
An expanding health information exchange connecting 71 hospitals and nearly 600 post-acute providers in New Jersey is exceeding expectations and providing staffing insights not necessarily envisioned when...
Pressing questions about rural telehealth access and investments put innovation in danger
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 22, 2024
Questions remain about how much providers will be able to rely on telehealth, remote monitoring and other technologies to come in the years ahead — and whether the government will make the needed legal,...
With ‘hundreds’ of facilities audited over schizophrenia, CMS pursues harsher antipsychotics stance
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 19, 2024
With half of nursing homes audited in a new process admitting to misdiagnosing schizophrenia patients, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is extending its drive to reduce the use of certain drugs...
Owner of defunct Skyline chain pleads guilty in $39M fraud case
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 18, 2024
Joseph Schwartz, former owner of Skyline Management and a 90-plus nursing home empire whose collapse sent patients and workers scrambling in 2019, pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in a $39 million...
‘Heightened risk’ as class action settlements spike, but arbitration offers critical protection
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 17, 2024
The number of class action settlements in 2023 outpaced predictions for the second year in a row, which will likely incentivize the plaintiffs bar to be even more aggressive in seeking class standing,...
MedPAC member: Give Congress more on nursing home staffing mandate implications
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 12, 2024
The likely costs of complying with a federal staffing mandate will affect nursing home margins so “massively” that a Congressional advisory board should offer alternative payment guidance for the sector,...
Gripped by uncertainty, skilled nursing providers just keep breathing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 10, 2024
Uncertainty may very well be the defining outlook for skilled nursing providers in 2024. At the very least, it was the theme that dominated our annual survey attempting to capture your attitudes heading...
Outlook 2024: On staffing, operators say they’ll ‘find a way’ but agency boom, admission restrictions...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 05, 2024
More than half — 55% — of skilled nursing leaders say they would need to hire more agency staff if a proposed federal staffing mandate is enacted. That’s just one finding from the McKnight’s 2024...
State to reward providers for reducing agency nurse use
By
Kimberly Marselas
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Jan 04, 2024
Skilled nursing providers have been working hard to reduce agency dependency in the wake of the pandemic and rising labor costs.
New federal initiatives increase criminal enforcement concerns for nursing homes
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 03, 2024
Already facing heightened regulatory pressure, skilled nursing operators could find themselves the subject of more criminal investigations in 2024 with the Biden administration ramping up efforts to investigate...