CMS to delay MDS 3.0 because of worries over system updates
Mar 05, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is planning to delay the implementation of Minimum Data Set 3.0 for one year because of concerns that there is not enough time to adequately prepare systems...
Ask The Payment Expert
By
Patricia Boyer
Jan 15, 2008
If we have a resident with a medical RUGs and therapy wants to pick up that resident, do we have to complete an OMRA assessment?
Reports forecast Medicare funding boost, dim overall outlook
By
McKnight's Staff
Apr 23, 2012
The Affordable Care Act will help Medicare save over $200 billion through 2016, according to government actuaries. But questions as to Medicare’s long-term solvency remain, another report from Social...
Inspector General blasts agency for ignoring ZPIC scrutiny
By
John Hall
Mar 19, 2015
Ignoring a four-year-old warning to more thoroughly evaluate Medicare auditing contractors is among the pile of unheeded advice that could have saved the Medicare program billions of dollars in recent...
Nursing homes can achieve high quality while gaining cost efficiency, researchers find
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 25, 2013
Nursing homes in the United States are generally efficient and able to control expenses without sacrificing quality of care, according to a recently released study in the Healthcare Management Review.
Nursing-home study: Inspection system ‘broken and can’t be fixed’
Aug 13, 2008
A leading nursing-home association is calling for an independent panel to come up with new methods for overseeing nursing facilities. The association’s task force issued 31 recommendations Tuesday,...
Amount of post-acute care accounts for regional differences in Medicare spending, report says
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 26, 2013
Geographic variations in Medicare payments can be largely explained by how much skilled nursing and post-acute care is being used, according to a recently released interim report from the Institute of...
Accountable care organizations might cut costs, but challenges remain
Apr 25, 2011
A new report suggests that accountable care organizations can lead to better health for beneficiaries and lower costs for healthcare participants.
Nursing homes blamed for high opt-out rates in dual eligible demo
By
John Hall
May 18, 2015
Huge numbers of dual-eligible beneficiaries are leaving a demonstration project that hopes to improve payments for people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
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.