Dual eligibles more likely to go from hospitals to lower quality nursing homes, referral process might...
By
Tim Mullaney
May 27, 2014
People eligible both for Medicare and Medicaid go to lower-quality nursing homes after being hospitalized at a rate higher than Medicare-only patients, according to researchers from Brown and Harvard universities.
MedPAC renews call for long-term care payment cuts, draws fire from providers
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 13, 2013
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has recommended a 4% reduction in skilled nursing facility payments in 2016, prompting an outcry from providers.
Standardized tool for assessing post-acute care is floated in House and Senate
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 20, 2014
Lawmakers in both houses of Congress have unveiled a draft bill calling for post-acute care providers to furnish standard assessment data, with the goals of enabling better quality oversight and driving...
CMS clarifies reporting requirements for hospice providers operating in skilled nursing facilities
By
Tim Mullaney
Feb 04, 2014
New revisions to the Medicare Claims Processing manual are intended to clarify requirements for hospice providers operating in skilled nursing facilities, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced...
CMS is failing to ensure that terminated skilled nursing facilities and other providers are not billing...
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 28, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services needs to do a better job of ensuring that terminated Medicaid providers in a particular state, including skilled nursing facilities, don’t reappear in...
Doctors flunk test on skilled nursing facilities, raising concerns about care transitions, UCLA researchers...
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 09, 2014
Early career physicians have extremely poor knowledge of skilled nursing facilities, showing that more robust training is needed to ensure that physicians can oversee effective transitions into SNFs, according...
CMS announces declining readmission rate for Medicare patients, credits Affordable Care Act
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 09, 2013
Improved transitions between acute and post-acute settings are partly responsible for continuing nationwide declines in hospital readmission rates, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Hospice is growing fastest in skilled nursing facilities, new report shows
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 05, 2014
Hospice services increased in nursing homes more than in any other care setting last year, according to the latest annual report from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
ACA put the brakes on spending across the care continuum, White House economists say
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 21, 2013
Spending on healthcare, including skilled nursing care, has grown at a historically slow rate in the last three years, according to a new analysis from the Council of Economic Advisers. The group, which...
Skilled nursing edges toward 90% occupancy, absorption rate makes first gain in nearly a decade, NIC...
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 14, 2014
Skilled nursing facilities’ occupancy rate continued to tick up in the first three months of 2014, while absorption flipped into positive territory for the first time in almost a decade, according...