HBO documentary reveals a certified nursing assistant’s struggle
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 18, 2014
President Lyndon Johnson highlighted impoverished families in Appalachia when he declared a “war on poverty.” Fifty years later, as the nation takes stock of how successfully we’ve waged...
Foot ulcers double the cost of diabetes care, study finds
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 17, 2014
Eliminating foot ulcers would cut costs for diabetes care in half, according to researchers with consulting firm The Analysis Group.
Brokers stole dying nursing home residents’ identities to carry out a lucrative fraud, SEC charges
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 14, 2014
Two investment brokers and their associates are facing charges that they stole nursing home residents’ personal information to perpetrate annuities fraud, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...
Providers could lose Medicaid money and patient information due to ICD-10 transition, researchers find
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 13, 2014
Healthcare providers could experience financial and information losses when they make the mandated transition to the new International Classification of Diseases coding system in October, according to...
CMS budget defines nursing home quality targets, requests an additional $50 million for surveys
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 12, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 requests additional funds for survey activities and lists the agency’s targets for nursing home quality measures.
CMS to weigh comments on disqualifying convictions in crafting background check regulations
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 11, 2014
Long-term care stakeholders generally support proposed regulations on background checks of direct care workers, according to an informational memorandum issued Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
WV Supreme Court hears ManorCare’s appeal of $90 million verdict
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 07, 2014
The West Virginia Supreme Court will consider the distinction between corporate negligence and medical negligence as it weighs a $90 million verdict against an HCR ManorCare facility, according to reports...
Senate bill would revamp 2-midnight rule for hospital inpatient admissions
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 07, 2014
Providers’ complaints about the so-called “two-midnight rule” for determining hospital inpatient status have led to a new bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate, which would create less rigid...
Regulators to double down on QAPI after government report on adverse events in post-acute care
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 07, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sees the upcoming Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement guidelines, not harsher penalties, as the way to reduce adverse events in post-acute care, officials...
Drug agency officially proposes to restrict access to hydrocodone medications
By
Tim Mullaney
Mar 05, 2014
The federal government is on the verge of tightening access to Vicodin and similar types of painkillers by moving the drugs from Schedule III to Schedule II classification. Long-term care providers have...