As nursing homes and other facilities continue to grapple with higher-than-usual numbers of flu cases this season, federal lawmakers on Tuesday will convene to learn how effective the public health response...
Brookdale having trouble filling beds after Emeritus deal
By
John Hall
Jan 30, 2015
Investors want occupied beds and claim Emeritus isn’t filling them fast enough to suit Wall Street, which has punished the company’s new owner with declining share value.
A very tangled web
By
John Hall
Oct 01, 2014
Medication management is as much art as science in a patient’s final days, and that can present multifaceted caregiving challenges for hospice providers
AMA to submit information to federal regulators regarding end-of-life care planning
By
John Hall
Jun 03, 2014
The American Medical Association is expected to release recommendations soon for what physicians should be reimbursed for end-of-life medical consultations. The physicians group issues advisements regularly...
Medicare bill would boost transitions to long-term care, other settings
By
John Hall
Jun 02, 2014
Federal lawmakers have introduced a bill designed to improve coordination of care and services for Medicare beneficiaries as they move from one setting to another.
Obama advisors urge faster shift to value-based reimbursement of healthcare providers
By
John Hall
Jun 02, 2014
Fee-for-service payment methods are the greatest impediment to an efficient healthcare system by incentivizing volume instead of better outcomes, advisors declared last week in a report to President Obama.
Improper coding for doctors’ evaluation and management visits costs Medicare billions, OIG report
By
John Hall
May 30, 2014
Documentation coding errors related to routine patient evaluation and management (E/M) visits are costing the Medicare program billions of dollars in improper payments a year — nearly $7 billion alone...
Nursing home staffing standards reduced severe deficiency citations, researchers find
By
John Hall
May 30, 2014
New research supports that improved nursing home staffing levels correlate with better quality of care. But it points to a phenomenon fewer could have predicted: diminished registered nurse hours spent...
20% of Medicare patients harmed due to improper care; nursing homes among areas needing more attention,...
By
John Hall
May 29, 2014
Nearly one in five Medicare patients fall prey to medically related injuries unrelated to their underlying disease or condition, according to new research.
OIG revenues off $1 billion as oversight relaxes
By
John Hall
May 28, 2014
Revenues from Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General audits and investigations for the the first half of fiscal 2014 are expected to drop almost $1 billion from the same period...