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.
TODAY’S THE DAY: McKnight’s Online Expo kicks off with session on MDS 3.0 as lawmakers reintroduce...
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 20, 2013
Representatives Sam Graves (R-MO) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently reintroduced a bill to ease audit burdens on long-term care providers. Initially put forward in Oct. 2012, the Medicare Audit Improvement...
Ryan budget begets testimony on immigrant workers in nursing homes
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 15, 2013
Thursday’s Congressional hearing about immigration policy became a forum for discussing how the recently proposed budget from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) would affect long-term care providers.
AHCA’s Parkinson ‘cautiously optimistic,’ despite sequester and other looming fiscal...
By
John O'Connor
Mar 07, 2013
A newly enacted sequester may be trimming Medicare payments to skilled nursing operators, but the sector remains strong and poised for future growth. That assessment was delivered Wednesday by the head...
Bundled payment groups should replace fee-for-service, physician pay commission says
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 05, 2013
The current fee-for-service healthcare model should be replaced with bundled payment systems that encourage more coordinated care, the National Commission on Physician Payment Reform said in a report released...
The mythical standard
By
McKnight's Staff
Mar 01, 2013
The Jimmo vs. Sebelius case, filed in January 2011 in federal district court in Vermont, has now been settled. The class action lawsuit challenged Medicare’s use of an “improvement standard”...
Why long-term care operators are wary – and weary – of sequestration fiasco
By
John O'Connor
Feb 22, 2013
Well, here we go again. Less than three months after President Obama and Congress narrowly avoided walking off a fiscal cliff, we’re bracing for Round 2. Only this time, we’re all a bit worse...
Obama attacks sequestration, Medicare payments in State of the Union address
By
John O'Connor
Feb 13, 2013
In a State of the Union address largely focused on jobs and the economy, President Obama challenged a divided Congress to avoid automatic funding cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, raise the minimum wage and...
Proposed law could raise labor costs for long-term care operators
By
John O'Connor
Feb 08, 2013
Many a provider broke out in cold sweats when the Family and Medical Leave Act was cobbled together two decades ago.
Proposed CMS rule could give some nursing homes extra time to install sprinklers
By
McKnight's Staff
Feb 06, 2013
Some nursing homes may be able to get a two-year extension on a requirement to install an automatic sprinkler system, under a rule proposed Monday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.