Medicare appeals backlog to be fixed by 2020, HHS says
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 06, 2016
Federal health officials say tweaks to the system will enable them to eradicate a massive backlog of Medicare decision appeals in 2019. They made the prediction in a court brief filed in U.S. District...
More pain ahead for big providers?
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 23, 2016
Take it from a guy who’s experienced the ups and downs of being, shall we say, not normally sized throughout life. There are definitely times when you prefer to be larger than others, and then there...
Bundled pay cuts LOS, use
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 05, 2016
The Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative is already showing promising results, researchers said.
When man bites dog at the Alzheimer’s care facility
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 08, 2016
Here’s your long-term care “Man bites dog” story of the week.
Federal court orders CMS to educate more about Jimmo ‘Improvement Standard’ case
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 19, 2016
Long-term care providers and consumer advocates were able to celebrate a victory over federal regulators on Thursday. But while the infrequent partners might feel they caught a good decision out of U.S....
A message from the future president of the United States
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 09, 2016
Last week in this space, I solved our nation’s problems, and long-term care’s, all in one fell swoop. Since then, there have been more embarrassing debates among bickering candidates for president,...
Finding a geriatrician shouldn’t require a miracle
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 23, 2015
So there I was the other night, flipping channels while taking care of holiday chores when I caught my third partial-viewing of “Miracle on 34th Street” this month. No matter how many times...
Design Decisions: E-lated with the new look
By
James M. Berklan
Dec 04, 2015
A replacement building thrives on natural light, vibrant colors and culture change perks to give residents new choices, neighborhoods
More scrutiny ahead for Five-Star ratings
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 05, 2015
In a move that top nursing home lobbyists privately hoped wouldn’t come to pass, the Government Accountability Office announced in late August it will be investigating the federal nursing home rating...
CMS lowers pay hike for skilled nursing facilities to 1.2%
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 31, 2015
Medicare skilled nursing facilities would get a net 1.2% pay increase — totaling $430 million — in fiscal 2016 under a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late Thursday.