Nursing Home Compare better than other government ‘transparency tools’ but has room for improvement,...
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 19, 2014
Government websites are not especially good tools for helping consumers choose healthcare providers, but Nursing Home Compare is in some ways the best model so far, according to a report released Tuesday...
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...
Penalty process explained
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
A long-term care facility that has been slapped with a civil monetary penalty has 10 days to file for an independent informal dispute resolution process, according to a recent manual update from the Centers...
Better anti-fraud efforts are not appeasing lawmakers
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 01, 2014
Long-term care facilities and other Medicare providers increasingly have seen reimbursements influenced by the government’s Fraud Prevention System, an official recently told a Congressional panel.
Occupational safety agency joins effort to reduce nursing home worker injuries
By
Tim Mullaney
Jul 18, 2013
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched a campaign to reduce the number of musculoskeletal injuries among long-term care workers this week. Nurses continue to experience high rates of...
CDC unveils new website to boost long-term care infection control efforts
By
Tim Mullaney
Jan 24, 2014
Long-term care providers can refer to a newly launched website to access information and resources to prevent infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.
Medicare ‘doc fix’ clears hurdle in the House, but providers still have questions
By
Tim Mullaney
Jul 24, 2013
A House of Representatives subcommittee has approved legislation reforming physician payments through Medicare. The bill passed out of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health by voice vote on Tuesday,...
HIPAA ruling highlights importance of encrypting patient information
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 21, 2013
A California appeals court has handed a victory to a healthcare provider in a case that involved the loss of 16,000 patient records. The ruling emphasizes the importance of encrypting files.
Hackers steal HIPAA-protected info of 4.5 million people from hospital network
By
Tim Mullaney
Aug 19, 2014
Long-term care and other provider types already have been on the alert for large-scale computer breaches, and their concerns likely will be stoked by news that one of the nation’s largest hospital...
CMS should publicly push Congress to reform therapy payment system, long-term care provider association...
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 09, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should openly urge Congress to change the way therapy services are reimbursed, the nation’s largest long-term care provider association stated in recent...