BREAKING: CMS increases oversight of nursing home survey process and expands nursing home visitation...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Danielle Brown
Nov 12, 2021
Nursing homes should allow visitation for residents “at all times,” while state surveyors received steps on how to address a backlog of complaint and recertification surveys under two separate memos...
COVID infection and mortality rates will trigger provider payouts of $2B in relief funding
By
Danielle Brown
Sep 04, 2020
A nursing home’s ability to keep COVID-19 infection and mortality rates low among residents will be the key indicator as to whether it will qualify for slices of $2 billion in newly available federal...
When CMS turns carrots into sticks
By
John O'Connor
Sep 17, 2012
The revised hospital payment system technically hasn’t begun yet. But that doesn’t mean senior living operators shouldn’t find a dark cloud around this silver lining.
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...
‘Embrace’ staffing measures in new CMS pay rule, expert advises
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 12, 2022
While proposed funding cuts grabbed the spotlight in the administration’s newly offered nursing home pay rule Monday, also within it are some highly noteworthy plans regarding President Joe Biden’s...
Opposition to Medicare cuts grows in Senate
Jul 29, 2008
Nearly half of the nation’s senators have voiced objections to proposed Medicare cuts of $770 million in fiscal year 2009, according to the American Health Care Association and the Alliance for Quality...
Is it the docs’ turn to get stoned?
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 25, 2018
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services brought out its equivalent of a brass band and confetti machine Tuesday to tout a new provider payment strategy. One could almost hear strains of “Happy...
A tisket, a tasket … No LPNs in the RN basket
By
Steven Littlehale
Jul 20, 2015
Reporting direct care hours is nothing new, but the Affordable Care Act takes it to the next level with mandatory quarterly electronic submission of staffing and census data. This focus on staffing ratios...
CMS not saying much about a payment deal that could be a game changer
By
John O'Connor
Jul 08, 2013
In recent years, many skilled care operators have nervously watched the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduce and sometimes eliminate payments for physical, occupational and speech therapy services....
Senate Democrats ask HHS to restore some nursing home regulations
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 22, 2018
A group of Democratic senators is asking the Department of Health and Human Services to reverse its stance on rolling back nursing home regulations.