Presidential election, Medicaid expansion crucial to future of nursing home funding
By
McKnight's Staff
Sep 26, 2012
If President Obama is re-elected in November, governors who have resisted implementing the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion will likely change their tune, a former government official speculated...
Why are more RAC audits happening? There are trillions of reasons
By
John O'Connor
Sep 10, 2012
Recovery audit contractors are stepping up their efforts to review Medicare billings. This appears to be a classic case of auditors gone wild.
Shining some light on the new Five Star system
By
Steven Littlehale
Sep 05, 2012
The Five Star overall score is comprised of three domains: Survey, Staffing and Quality Measures. This month, look a little deeper into the overall Five Star Scores.
Medicare auditors becoming more active, denying more claims, survey shows
By
McKnight's Staff
Aug 29, 2012
Requests for medical records by Medicare’s fraud-detecting recovery audit contractors (RACs) jumped sharply from the first- to the second-quarter of fiscal year 2012, a new survey reveals.
States ultimately will opt into Medicaid expansion: CMS official
By
McKnight's Staff
Jul 31, 2012
All states will eventually participate in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion once governors weigh its costs against its benefits, a top Medicaid official predicted Monday.
iPods coming to an eldercare facility near you
By
Mary Gustafson
Jul 26, 2012
When I first spoke with Music & Memory founder Dan Cohen last year, he had big plans for his new program that would put iPods with personalized playlists in Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients’...
Antipsychotics report will have severe side effects
By
John O'Connor
Jul 13, 2012
Antipsychotic drugs are often used to calm residents with dementia. This reality is common knowledge among most people who have spent more than a few minutes in a nursing facility. But it is apparently...
CMS boosts payments, incentives for dialysis centers
By
McKnight's Staff
Jul 03, 2012
Medicare payments to providers that offer outpatient maintenance dialysis treatments will increase 2.5% in calendar year 2013, regulators said.
Medicare coverage for bariatric surgeries left up to discretion of administrative contractors
Jun 29, 2012
Long-term care operators struggling to meet the needs of obese residents could get some help from Medicare.
CMS to survey nursing homes about quality assurance best practices
Jun 28, 2012
Throughout the summer, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is collecting data from 4,200 nursing homes to help develop best practices for a new quality assurance initiative.