In breakthrough, feds OK nursing home visits, group dining and activities; update infection control guidance
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 28, 2021
After nearly a year in lockdown, nursing home residents can participate in indoor visitation, communal dining and group activities — with exceptions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced...
Final rule for joint replacement: Don’t come unhinged!
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 20, 2016
The first mandatory bundled payment program was set into motion with the publication of the Final Rule on Comprehensive Care for Lower Extremity Joint Replacement (CJR). The implementation date is now...
Trio is trouble in assisted living: Risky neuro drug combos too common, dementia expert says
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 11, 2021
Fully one in seven people with dementia who do not live in nursing homes are taking at least three drugs that act on the central nervous system — beyond the advised limit, a new study finds.
COVID-19 hospitalization rates 30 times higher in the unvaccinated, CDC finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 26, 2021
Despite the known effectiveness of U.S.-sanctioned COVID-19 vaccines, some fully vaccinated individuals will still become infected. But their unvaccinated peers have five times the risk of infection and...
Database of disciplined nurses still off-limits to nursing homes and hospitals
Sep 04, 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services over the years has kept hidden from nursing homes and hospitals a database of nurses and other healthcare workers who have been disciplined by state licensing...
Vaccinated people easily transmit COVID in close quarters, daily testing reveals
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 29, 2021
People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are just as infectious as their unvaccinated counterparts, albeit for a shorter period of time, finds an unusual new household study from the United Kingdom.
CMS: A quarter of Medicare recipients skipped needed healthcare during pandemic
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 21, 2020
Fully 21% of beneficiaries have forgone needed healthcare for something other than COVID-19. Nearly half say they did not want to risk being at a medical facility, according to CMS.
Providers want CMS to stop bundled payment expansion until outcomes are known
By
Oct 06, 2016
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ expansion of mandatory bundled payment models is moving too rapidly to fully understand the impact the models could have on patients, provider groups...
Providers fear more flu vaccine reporting burdens
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 21, 2022
Providers worry they might not have enough time to fully comply with a mandatory flu vaccination reporting measure for workers if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services moves forward as proposed.
The time of year for a ‘prevent’ defense
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 23, 2009
Amid the work on long-term care reform, legislators passed a welcome bit of legislation on falls prevention.