While employee retention is always a top priority, operating in a pandemic intensifies the urgency to hire and maintain competent, committed staff. Since the first three months of employment are particularly...
CMS revises COVID-19 vaccine mandate guidance
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 06, 2022
Workers at skilled nursing and other long-term care facilities that have been suspended or are on extended leave won’t count against the providers as “unvaccinated staff,” according to new updated...
Nursing homes appeal expulsion from Medicaid over alleged COVID-19 failures
By
Danielle Brown
Aug 06, 2020
At least two Massachusetts providers are fighting back after receiving termination notices from the state’s Medicaid program over COVID-19 responses deemed unacceptable.
Employees share their pandemic experience
By
Nancy Anderson, RN, MA
Dec 11, 2020
“Although these are less than ideal circumstances, we have all pulled together as a team. That extra bit of support and acknowledgement we get from leaders makes a difference. Simple things can go a...
COVID test turnaround time tops 2 days for a third of nursing homes, data show
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 13, 2020
Among 13,000 facilities that provided their testing speed to the government, only 17% reported an average turnaround time of less than a day; and fully 29% waited three days or more on average for residents’...
HHS lets suspense mount on remaining Provider Relief Funds
By
Danielle Brown
Aug 05, 2021
The Department of Health and Human Services is remaining quiet on how and when it plans to redistribute the approximate $24 billion of what’s left in the Provider Relief Fund.
Lawmakers want Obama-era infection control regulations for nursing homes restored
By
Danielle Brown
Mar 10, 2021
Stricter infection control and emergency preparedness regulations could be on the horizon for skilled nursing and other long-term care providers if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services grants a...
BREAKING: CMS ends nurse aide certification waiver, many other COVID-19 allowances
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 07, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is restoring training requirements for nurse aides who work at skilled nursing facilities after waiving them early during the COVID-19 crisis.
Fauci and colleagues: Expect a diagnostic challenge this flu season — and stress vaccine education
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Alicia Lasek
Oct 02, 2020
A winter featuring flu and COVID-19 may create a diagnostic muddle for clinicians, said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci in a Thursday news conference. There is a pressing need to educate patients about getting...
Florida providers are working toward complying with the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate — despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) pledge that the state won’t enforce the regulation.