Opt-in COVID vaccine program kicks off; Feds partner with CVS, Walgreens
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 19, 2020
Long-term care facilities nationwide can voluntarily opt in to a free pharmacy partnership program that will provide and administer future COVID-19 vaccines on site, federal officials announced Friday.
Feds must ramp up efforts against antibiotic resistance: GAO
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 27, 2023
Federal health agencies must urgently tackle key measures of a plan to curb the rising threat of antibiotic-resistant organisms, according to new testimony released by the Government Accountability Office...
Joint HHS, Justice efforts recoup $28 billion in Medicare payments
By
John Hall
Mar 19, 2015
The Justice Department announced on Thursday it had captured $3.3 billion from healthcare fraud prosecutions and other deals in 2014, bringing to nearly $28 billion the total amount it has recouped since...
Regaining an appreciation of prevention
By
Tara Roberts
Feb 05, 2015
Healthcare is mandated to reduce spending. The problem is that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and others are so blinded by the “reduce spending” element that we have lost our...
Use of religious vaccination exemptions could grow after judge blocks mandate
By
Danielle Brown
Sep 16, 2021
New York long-term care providers cannot deny religious exemptions from the state’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate after a federal judge issued a temporary straining order blocking the rule for lacking...
CMS shares LTC booster data; coverage among residents meets national average
By
Alicia Lasek
Feb 10, 2022
Nursing home booster vaccination data is now available on the Medicare.gov Care Compare website as part of CMS’s effort to help increase facility vaccination coverage, the agency said Wednesday.
Missing or wrong data at admissions costs SNFs millions
By
Danielle Brown
May 23, 2022
SCHAUMBURG, Il. — Skilled nursing providers are leaving millions of reimbursement dollars on the table due to avoidable and costly billing errors — with most coming during the intake and admissions...
‘The system failed’: Experts lay plans for reforming long-term care after pandemic
By
Danielle Brown
Aug 04, 2020
Now is the opportunity for providers, policymakers and other stakeholders to aggressively reform the long-term services and supports system after its underlying weaknesses were exposed under pandemic conditions,...
Geriatricians weigh value of newer advance care directives for nursing home residents
By
Alicia Lasek (f3)
Jun 02, 2022
In a new editorial, specialists ask whether Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment lead to high-quality care for residents.
Regular surveys resume at nursing homes, but CMS treads carefully with enforcement penalties
By
Danielle Brown
Nov 20, 2020
State survey agencies have already begun to resume regular survey activities at nursing homes across the country, according to a top Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official.