Kohl-Grassley bill aims for larger fines, transparency
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 01, 2008
Nursing home operators could face fines up to $100,000 – 10 times the current maximum – and would have to provide more ownership, expenditure and staffing information under a new bill introduced...
CMS: deliver data — or else
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 01, 2016
Providers who miss staffing data submission deadlines could be sanctioned — and see their Five-Star Nursing Quality Ratings suffer — federal officials said.
Editor’s Desk: A cash incentive test program for nursing homes in four states could shape your...
By
James M. Berklan
May 01, 2009
Little things like pirates taking Americans hostage off the coast of Africa, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the credit and housing markets crises have knocked long-term care out of the evening newscast,...
Members of Congress ratchet up pressure on nursing homes
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 03, 2018
Four influential Republican Congressmen sent a letter to federal regulators Tuesday, requesting sweeping answers about the agency’s oversight of nursing homes.
HIPAA calls it: Phone theft costs $650,000
By
James M. Berklan
Aug 06, 2016
Federal regulators lowered the boom on the former owner of several nursing homes after an iPhone containing the medical records of more than 400 residents was stolen.
Case for bundled pay made
By
James M. Berklan
Jun 01, 2013
Large-scale bundling of government reimbursements is needed, say researchers who have studied the topic. Post-acute care was the fastest growing major healthcare spending category for government programs...
Editor’s Desk: Some of this reform stuff will be tough to swallow
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 01, 2010
Some things are incomprehensible in their entirety. That is my initial thought as I write on the day President Obama signed historic healthcare reform into law.
Editor’s Desk: Out of ashes of despair an opportunity may rise
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 11, 2007
Some of the greatest success stories emanate from some of the least likely places: bleak situations, unflattering news developments and seemingly indefensible, incomprehensible acts.
Device thefts main source of HIPAA rifts
By
James M. Berklan
Jul 01, 2014
Nearly 15 million individuals were affected by more than 450 large-scale health data breaches in 2010 and 2011, investigators said in a recent report to Congress. The theft of devices containing protected...
OIG finds ‘observation stay’ problems, calls for reform
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 01, 2013
Long-term care groups are among those hailing a federal study that raises critical questions about hospitals’ apparent over-use of “observation stay” designations for patients.