What goes around comes around: Time to set up YOUR smart network
By
Steven Littlehale
May 20, 2016
The recent publication of the SNF PPS Proposed rule for FY 2017 seekd to unite post-acute providers by aligning payment incentives and overlapping value-based penalties. It might be trickier than it looks.
How’s Your M-4 power? No it’s not the latest gadget, but a strategy for success!
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 18, 2015
As the year comes to a close, we naturally reflect on how much has changed and, conversely, how much remains the same. This year it seems easier to identify the changes that post-acute providers have encountered...
Why some are resisting vaccination, and how we can help
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 10, 2021
The woeful percentages of long-term care employees willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination are going to improve. But only with time and ramped up communication efforts.
How will PBJ impact Five-Star staffing? Would you like one lump or two?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 30, 2018
We don’t know when, and we don’t know how, but when Payroll-Based Journal staffing data replaces the data currently being captured from CMS Form 671 for calculating Five-Star staffing, we are...
Payment reform: Ready! Set! Don’t go! No, I mean go!
By
Steven Littlehale
Apr 23, 2018
Perhaps you think that the new therapy-payment bombshell (RCS-1) has turned out to be a dud. I hope to make the point that it was not.
Is ‘location, location, location’ still driving your Five-Star success? Yes!
By
Steven Littlehale
Apr 01, 2022
Tying reimbursement to investments in quality is a good idea, but it won’t work with the current Five-Star system.
Resolving that tension between clinical and financial leadership
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 27, 2020
It’s time to give purchasing agents more room to operate in long-term care. Here’s why, and now here’s a group that can help their efforts.
The Jimmo scorecard and CMS compliance update
By
Steven Littlehale
Nov 25, 2014
In some ways, 2014 has been a monumental year. But it’s not over yet, especially with regard to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services steps regarding the historic Jimmo settlement agreement signed...
Revamping CMS survey data integration amid regulatory lag in nursing home oversight
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 08, 2023
The report titled “Uninspected and Neglected” by the majority staff of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging brings attention to a pressing issue: the severe understaffing of inspection agencies...
Does cognitive impairment contribute to SNF-to-hospital transition?
By
Steven Littlehale
Feb 28, 2018
Exceptional SNF utilized appropriate structure, process and outcome measures. Despite this, however, it might have better been called “Mediocre SNF.”