No factor has a greater impact on the quality of a nursing home resident’s care and life than staffing levels, whether their outcomes are measured by moments in time (i.e., incidents & condition...
CMS drops payment cut related to two-midnight rule
By
Elizabeth Newman
Apr 20, 2016
Faced with a legal challenge, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has killed a two-midnight inpatient payment cut to hospitals. The agency will not move forward with a 0.2% inpatient payment cut...
Commanding respect from the disrespectful
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Apr 19, 2016
I started my nursing career in a very busy teaching-hospital operating room. I loved the excitement, the anticipation of the surgeon’s needs. But what I didn’t love was the utter disrespect...
Massachusetts proposes $35.5 million boost for SNF worker pay, hires 19 new facility inspectors
By
Apr 15, 2016
Massachusetts lawmakers made moves this week to help increase wages and benefits for workers, as well as increasing oversight, in the states’ 400-plus skilled nursing facilities.
Minimal SNF construction forecasted through 2016, report says
By
Apr 15, 2016
Fewer new skilled nursing developments will crop up over the coming year, and those that do will focus on short-stay, post-acute rehabilitation services, according to a new report from real estate consulting...
Who else is using Five-Star? (Who isn’t?)
By
Steven Littlehale
Apr 14, 2016
I continue to be struck by how deep Five-Star has worked its way into the countless nooks and crannies of our industry. It’s far beyond what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intended...
MedPAC provides roadmap for post-acute care overhaul
By
Elizabeth Newman
Apr 11, 2016
Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities, home health, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term care hospitals would change under a plan from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission approved...
Caring for complex patients is no easy task
By
Jeffrey Brenner, M.D.
Apr 06, 2016
We plan to bring together front-line providers, healthcare educators and students, model-builders, data scientists, and policy makers to build this national center, collect learnings, and teach others...
Managed care will hit SNFs relying on Part A payments, experts say
By
Elizabeth Newman
Apr 06, 2016
Skilled nursing providers should be prepared for managed care to drill down on Medicare Part A residents, creating the potential for major financial problems, a long-term care expert warned on Tuesday.
A right of passage or a risk of passing?
Apr 05, 2016
When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, peacefully in her sleep … not like the three passengers screaming in the back seat of her Buick! (OK, old joke). But what isn’t a joke is elders...