CMS: Nursing home Medicare cuts helped keep healthcare spending at historic low levels
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 07, 2014
Dramatic Medicare cuts to skilled nursing facilities played a significant part in keeping healthcare spending low in 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Monday.
Hand hygiene prior to donning gloves is unnecessary, study finds
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 06, 2014
Performing hand hygiene prior to putting on gloves may not be a necessary practice, suggests recently published research in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Judge dismisses HIPAA claims arising from Omnicell laptop theft
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 06, 2014
Individuals do not have the right to sue healthcare providers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act simply because their personal information was compromised, a federal judge recently...
Nursing home does not need Supreme Court intervention to avoid birth control mandate, feds say
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 06, 2014
The federal government defended the Affordable Care Act’s so-called “contraception mandate” Friday in a Supreme Court filing against a Catholic long-term care provider. The ACA requires...
CMS proposes more rigorous emergency preparedness rules for long-term care facilities
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 03, 2014
Long-term care facilities would have to meet more comprehensive emergency preparedness guidelines, under a newly proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Jimmo guidance: Document whether therapy is for restoration or maintenance before providing care
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 20, 2013
In seeking Medicare reimbursement, skilled nursing facilities should not claim that therapy was to maintain a patient’s condition if documentation reflected only an improvement goal, according to...
Senators weigh need for individual mandate in long-term care financing reform
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 19, 2013
Senators and a panel of experts wrangled over whether effective long-term care reform hinges on a federal mandate for all individuals to buy some type of LTC insurance, at a Special Committee on Aging...
Newly endorsed quality measure assesses Medicare costs for a whole episode of care
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 18, 2013
The National Quality Forum has endorsed a controversial hospital quality measure that assesses Medicare costs for a whole episode of care, including time spent in post-acute settings, the organization...
Ensuring nursing home quality is a top challenge for HHS in 2014, inspector general says
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 18, 2013
Promoting quality care in long-term care settings is one of the top management challenges facing the Department of Health and Human Services in the next year, according to a report from the agency’s...
I saw the (nursing home) sign part II: Trouble in Goffstown
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 17, 2013
A small-town conflict over signage has pitted a New Hampshire nursing home against its neighbors — and might suggest some larger trends in long-term care.