Skilled nursing angst, grit emerge after PHE end date announced
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 01, 2023
Nursing home leaders were scrambling to understand the full implications of the newly announced end to the public health emergency while also making plans to fight the return of some less flexible conditions.
CMS prods hospitals to improve discharge info for SNFs, home health
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 07, 2023
Hospitals’ shortcomings in providing post-acute care providers with adequate discharge information prompted federal regulators to issue a special memo Tuesday.
Care teams now at risk as MDS changes roll out
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 28, 2023
It’s been widely billed as the biggest change to the Minimum Data Set in more than a decade, and on Sunday, version 1.18.11 of the MDS 3.0 finally kicks in.
How do we know if we know what we don’t know?
By
Steven Levenson
Sep 08, 2023
The amount of knowledge and skill involved in complying with the OBRA regulations is monumental. Every topic, from pressure injury prevention to behavior management, has many tec hnical details and clinical...
CMS makes 60 changes to finalize new MDS playbook
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 25, 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the final version of the new Resident Assessment Instrument manual Thursday .
Providers tepidly embrace CMS plan to revoke ‘no longer needed’ vax mandate
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 03, 2023
Skilled nursing providers on Tuesday cheered the federal government’s decision to revoke its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.
Nursing home telehealth ‘cliff’ avoided with pay rule adjustments
By
Joe Bush
Nov 03, 2022
Nursing home residents and their distant physicians got good telehealth news in the 2023 Physician Pay Rule issued Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Prioritize ventilation over masking, ‘realistic’ epidemiologist advises long-term care providers
By
Kimberly Marselas
Nov 23, 2022
Staying away from groups when sick and improved ventilation — but not masking — are the way forward at this point in the pandemic, a noted epidemiologist and COVID-19 advisor told a nursing home group...
CMS ‘demonizing’ private equity with rule that could scare away skilled nursing investors
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Apr 17, 2023
A proposed rule to make nursing home ownership more transparent could instead scare off private equity investments, leaving facilities without much-needed capital, experts warn as federal regulators enter...
CMS must ‘ease burdens’ if it wants more long-stay residents in value-based care: report
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 29, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must do more to move states away from an “extremely bifurcated” Medicare and Medicaid system that sometimes leaves dually eligible beneficiaries confused...