Outcome assessment should be seen as a tool for change management and will likely become the new standard for assessing resident care under the Affordable Care Act.
CMS crackdown doubles Medicare removals
By
McKnight's Staff
Jun 07, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has removed 14,663 healthcare providers and suppliers from the Medicare program in the last two years, the agency announced Thursday. The figure more than doubles...
ACA-mandated cuts will not hit Medicare, official asserts
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 01, 2013
Because Medicare’s growth rate will not eclipse a certain threshold, the program will be spared from potential Medicare cuts called for in the healthcare reform law, a top government official said.
Medicare safe from ACA-mandated cuts, official says
By
McKnight's Staff
May 02, 2013
Potential Medicare cuts called for by the Affordable Care Act will not occur, a chief government actuary has announced. Long-term care organizations said the news comes as a relief for providers who have...
April 24 webcast on ACA and ‘smart workforce strategies’ now available in archive
Apr 20, 2013
The implications of the Affordable Care Act and what providers should be doing about it were the focus of a free McKnight’s webcast April 24. Led by legal veteran Janet K. Feldkamp, of Benesch Friedlander...
Updated palliative care guidelines: Providers should increase coordination, embrace QAPI
By
McKnight's Staff
Apr 15, 2013
Palliative care should follow care coordination and quality improvement processes called for by the Affordable Care Act, according to updated guidelines from the National Consensus Project for Quality...
HHS issues final rule on federal payment rates for new Medicaid beneficiaries
By
McKnight's Staff
Apr 01, 2013
The federal government will pay 100% of the Medicaid costs for certain newly eligible beneficiaries under the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed in a final rule...
Managing the gaps with transitional care
By
Debra Jacobs, RN, CRRN, MSN
Mar 14, 2013
As agents of innovative health care for the future, our role is clear in paving the path of collaborative efforts within the patient care continuum. Transitional Care Management (TCM) is certainly not...
Compliance clock ticks
By
Terese Farhat
Feb 02, 2013
Nursing facilities have always faced an array of obligations in order to provide services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, which can sometimes seem burdensome in comparison with other providers....
Long-term care pharmacy groups propose changes to make short-cycle dispensing more efficient, cost-effective
By
McKnight's Staff
Feb 05, 2013
Long-term care pharmacies are struggling with an Affordable Care Act provision related to short-cycle dispensing of brand name oral solid drugs, according to a recent letter from the Long Term Care Pharmacy...