CMS: ‘Significant’ changes to final rule driven by provider comments
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Oct 07, 2016
Some of the biggest differences between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed rules for long-term care providers and the final rule released late last month reflect providers’...
SNF to pay $345,000 to settle class-action lawsuit over drug prescribing practices
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Jun 15, 2017
A California skilled nursing facility has agreed to pay $345,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming the highly-rated provider prescribed residents psychotropic drugs without consent from them or...
Study: Facial injuries in SNFs ‘underappreciated,’ contribute significantly to healthcare...
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Mar 23, 2017
Facial injuries suffered by nursing home residents may be flying under the radar and adding a “substantial amount of costs” to the U.S. healthcare system, a recent study shows.
SNF operator to pay $1 million to settle genetic testing fraud allegations
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Apr 12, 2017
A Louisville, KY-based skilled nursing facility operator has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to clear up claims related to its role in a genetic testing scheme that violated the False Claims Act, the Department...
OIG: Hospices need to better certify terminally ill patients to avert fraud
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Sep 16, 2016
Hospice providers need to ensure their physicians have properly certified that a Medicare beneficiary is appropriate for hospice care, federal officials urged in a report released Thursday.
You’ve got mail — and some work to do
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Sep 16, 2015
“We don’t do email.” At first I wasn’t sure if I heard the person on the other end of the phone correctly. Here was a long-term care provider in this, the year 2015, who didn’t...
Get S.M.A.R.T.
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Jan 12, 2016
Odds are you haven’t seen this expert advice to make sure your personal New Year’s resolutions — and those for your facility — stick around even after you stop accidentally writing 2015...
LTC the overwhelming source of Legionnaires’ in healthcare facilities, CDC says
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Jun 08, 2017
Legionnaires’ disease tends to be more common and deadly within post-acute care facilities than others — and providers need to do more to reduce the risk to residents, health officials announced...
Directives not in good order
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Feb 05, 2017
Many nursing home providers are missing chances to cut costs and reduce unnecessary care by not having residents’ advance directives on file, or orderly, a recent study found.
ACA repeal may not harm providers but replacement could, leader says
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Jan 05, 2017
Nursing home providers are unlikely to see any earth-shattering changes should the Affordable Care Act be repealed, as promised by President-elect Donald Trump. But some of the options being floated as...