Many providers still are having a tough time embracing the new Five-Star rating system for nursing homes. A new survey shows that their concerns may be valid. Holleran, a national research and consulting...
Unraveling the impact: PDPM Medicaid case-mix index and potential Five-Star Rating challenges
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 01, 2024
The landscape of Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes is undergoing significant changes. Presently, eight states have adopted the PDPM case-mix index (CMI) model, and an additional 31 states are set...
The beauty of bad publicity
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 28, 2014
When I saw the New York Times article illuminating the clever ways devious operators could inflate their Medicare star ratings, I had mixed emotions ranging from fury to rage.
Three stars will be the new one star
By
Betsy Rust
Dec 07, 2016
Nursing home operators call it low occupancy. Medicare insiders call it a declining census. Economists call it excess capacity.
Additional staffing metrics point to organizational stability
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 04, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, through its consumer‐facing website, has made additional nursing home staffing data available. Doing so during a public health emergency, when the industry...
Stars upon thars
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 23, 2015
It’s notoriously difficult, not to mention foolish, to try to predict the future of long-term care in America. In all of our nation’s recorded history, only one man can lay claim to true prescience...
Need more referrals? Expert hones in on the ‘M’ word
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 08, 2022
In a skilled nursing environment driven increasingly by data, providers must know which metrics matter most to their stakeholders — and be willing to work hard to improve those that exist beyond the...
Which matters most: Social media or Five-Star?
By
Steven Littlehale
May 27, 2022
Recently my colleague Ken Kelley, MS, OTR/L, RAC-CT, a clinical consultant/reimbursement specialist, posited something about Five-Star ratings that I hadn’t considered. He suggested that, in general,...
Five-Star is anything but frozen
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 13, 2017
The day after Thanksgiving, CMS further defined its intensions with the Five-Star Quality Rating System; more specifically how the new survey process and derivative data will be used in its calculation...
The Five-Star Quality Rating System’s impact on insurance premiums — and how to address them
By
Ben Newman
Feb 27, 2023
For nearly 15 years, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Five-Star Quality Rating System for long-term care facilities has been a single source of truth for multiple parties. Consumers...