By now, everyone has heard the resounding drumbeat of 30-day rehospitalization rates. What is yours? Are you improving? Are you using the National Quality Forum’s endorsed method for calculating?
NOTICE Act signed; deadline next August
By
Elizabeth Newman
Sep 04, 2015
The Notice of Observation, Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act (NOTICE) will require hospitals to tell Medicare beneficiaries of their outpatient status within 36 hours, or, if sooner, upon...
MatrixCare to release clinical dashboard
Sep 01, 2015
MatrixCare has announced the MatrixCare Analytics Clinical Dashboard, which has 33 quality measures and compares results to the most current CMS benchmark data.
A decline in occupancy rates and an increase in days cash-on-hand are among the findings included in CliftonLarsonAllen’s sweeping Skilled Nursing Facility Cost Comparison Report.
GAO will investigate Five-Star rating system
By
Aug 28, 2015
In a move sure to surprise many providers, the Government Accountability Office will investigate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Five-Star Quality Rating System, according to a published...
Obama signs NOTICE Act into law
By
Aug 11, 2015
A bill changing notification of outpatient observation status for hospital patients has been signed into law by President Obama.
State News for August 2015
Aug 05, 2015
The nation’s most populous state is also now home to the largest long-term care workers’ union, which formally chartered in late June.
Damaging hand-offs
By
Amy Novotney
Aug 05, 2015
With the stakes raised for more and more admissions — and departures — communication is critical for long-term care providers looking to partner with hospitals
Music to their ears
By
Holly Petrovich
Aug 05, 2015
The renovation and expansion of a cramped facility brings residents more privacy and service options, and the operator a healthy cash flow
CMS lowers pay hike for skilled nursing facilities to 1.2%
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 31, 2015
Medicare skilled nursing facilities would get a net 1.2% pay increase — totaling $430 million — in fiscal 2016 under a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late Thursday.