Medicare Advantage: A not-so-advantageous deal for beneficiaries and providers
By
Brendan Williams
Nov 29, 2023
Open enrollment is well underway for Medicare, as television viewers inundated with cheesy insurance company ads can tell. Those ads must work. For the first time 2024 will see most Medicare...
AI: Living in the future
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Oct 17, 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to revolutionize the way medical professionals diagnose and treat patients. The use of AI algorithms and machine...
BREAKING: CMS nursing home staffing mandate in question after study leaks
By
James M. Berklan
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 29, 2023
The accidental online posting Tuesday afternoon of a study commissioned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services seems to indicate that the White House’s grand plans for a first-ever nursing home...
Skilled nursing sector’s growing (or shrinking) problems get new attention
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Aug 23, 2023
For the second day in a row, a major US newspaper Tuesday highlighted problems in the long-term care sector.
Expect another Five-Star freeze amid nursing home survey delays, experts warn
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 20, 2024
Staffing measures used to calculate nursing homes’ federal ratings will freeze in April, further complicating a system based on often outdated and constantly changing metrics, experts warned last week.
[Updated] BREAKING: Price of nursing home staffing mandate is $6.8B, 100K more workers, analysis finds
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 26, 2023
Nursing homes would need to spend more than $6.8 billion annually to meet a proposed federal staffing mandate, which also would require them to hire more than 102,000 new workers if enacted as originally...
[UPDATED] BREAKING: CMS proposes 4.1 percent nursing homes pay boost; staffing minimum not addressed
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 29, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Thursday proposed a 4.1% pay increase for nursing homes in fiscal 2025 but declined to issue an update on its staffing minimum proposal as part of its annual...
Reason for referral: Documentation tips for therapists
By
Renee Kinder
Mar 14, 2024
If you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen. How many times have we all heard those words? Today, I would like for us all to consider not merely the importance of documenting daily skilled care but...
Nurse hiring bonuses: More harm than good?
By
Adam Chambers
Nov 15, 2023
Nursing jobs are three times more likely to include a signing bonus than other professions, according to Indeed. These financial incentives are designed to draw attention, make job ads stand out, and entice...
Wait-and-see staffing rule exemptions meant to ‘safeguard’ residents: CMS
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 25, 2024
Skilled nursing providers will not have to go through a stand-alone application process to be exempted from provisions of a new federal staffing mandate, an official with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...