Medicare audits ‘ramping up’ with isolation coding in the crosshairs
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 22, 2024
Auditors are paying special attention to isolation and quarantine coding amid already heightened Medicare nursing home audits that are expected to increase in coming months, experts warn.
Average wages for SNFs have increased by nearly 20%, state data shows
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 28, 2022
New Hampshire nursing homes on average paid about 20% more in labor costs per day from 2019 to 2021 due in part to the ongoing workforce crisis, according to a new report.
Medicare costs could rise by $5B annually with expanded Alzheimer’s drug coverage: study
By
Alicia Lasek
May 12, 2023
Medicare costs could rise by $2 to $5 billion a year if CMS expands its coverage for newly approved Alzheimer’s disease drug Leqembi (lecanemab), investigators say.
CMS: Lower COVID rates linked to higher nursing home quality ratings
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 02, 2021
Higher facility star ratings are tied to lower COVID transmission rates and fewer deaths, according to the agency’s chief medical officer and director of its Center for Clinical Standards and Quality.
Faithfully merging palliative care and infection control reduces harmful resident transfers: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 02, 2021
The more a nursing home adheres to the newer concept of integrated best practices in these areas, the fewer hospital transfers in residents with advanced dementia, researchers say.
Staff and residents differ in willingness to be vaccinated
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 04, 2021
There is a distinct contrast between the numbers of long-term care staff members and residents willing to receive the first round of COVID-19 vaccines, industry observers report. Education is key to supporting...
Pressure mounting on CMS to exclude COVID vaccination data in quality reporting
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 18, 2021
More long-term care stakeholders are calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ditch its proposal to expand the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program to include staff COVID-19...
Employee spread — not controversial admission policy — was driver behind COVID-19 deaths, report...
By
Danielle Brown
Jul 07, 2020
Unwitting nursing home workers in New York — not any specific policy — were the main force that led to COVID-19 fatalities among residents there, a report released by the NY Department of Health has...
COVID-19 pushes skilled nursing occupancy down 10%, analysis finds
By
Liza Berger
Jun 08, 2020
The nursing home population has fallen by 100,000 residents, or 10%, since the end of 2019, according to a Wall Street Journal news report. The main cause cited was complications related to the COVID-19...
Lonely seniors may have shorter life, fewer healthy years than their peers: analysis
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 08, 2021
At age 60, people who report being lonely can expect to live an average of three to five years less than their peers who say they are never lonely. Years of active daily life are shortened as well, investigators...