Lawmakers blast federal efforts to monitor and police Medicare fraud — again
By
McKnight's Staff
Jun 11, 2012
Lawmakers again hammered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicare program integrity contractors Friday. The latest salvos were fueled by an agency admission that additional mistakes...
Measuring performance, coordinating care both crucial to lowering costs among the chronically ill, report...
By
McKnight's Staff
Apr 30, 2012
The federal government should take advantage of Affordable Care Act funds to improve the coordination and quality of care for the chronically ill, a new report recommends.
HHS healthcare-associated infection reduction plan is open for public comments
By
McKnight's Staff
Apr 20, 2012
The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking public comments on its updated action plan — which includes efforts in nursing homes — to reduce or eliminate healthcare-associated infections.
Survey: Most nursing home administrators say background checks are helpful, efficient
Feb 10, 2012
Criminal background checks have not been found to significantly limit the quantity or quality of candidates for nursing home jobs, a top nursing home advocate says. A recent government survey of nursing...
Long-term care stakeholders submit quality measures performance report to HHS
Feb 07, 2012
As required by the Affordable Care Act, the National Quality Forum convened the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) to develop a coordinated performance measurement approach across PAC and LTC settings.
Catholic nursing homes will be affected by HHS contraception regulation
Feb 02, 2012
About 500 Catholic nursing homes in the United States will be affected by a regulation requiring employer health insurance plans to cover contraceptive services.
Alzheimer’s experts to finalize Obama administration taskforce plan
Jan 17, 2012
A panel of Alzheimer’s experts is kicking off a two-day meeting in Washington today to formalize an Obama administration goal of developing effective ways to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s by...
House passes 2011 budget proposal
Apr 15, 2011
In a 260-167 vote Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the FY 2011 budget, which President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) brokered...
Proposed state Medicaid cuts cause backlash from nursing home operators, wouldn’t close budget...
Mar 28, 2011
Medicaid cost-cutting strategies the Department of Health and Human Services has suggested to states will not be enough to close $175 billion in cumulative budget gaps—and that’s the way it should...
HHS unveils new national quality improvement strategy
Mar 22, 2011
The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday rolled out its “National Strategy for Quality Improvements in Health Care,” a “first-ever” plan to guide quality improvement...