BREAKING: CMS says all healthcare staff must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4
By
Danielle Brown
Nov 04, 2021
Long-term care staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 under a new healthcare worker vaccination rule released early Thursday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Unmanifested inflation: Labor shortages may begin to improve — but at a price
By
Kimberly Marselas
Nov 03, 2021
HOUSTON — One of the nation’s top economists predicts many of the workers who left the economy over the last few months may soon start returning, but that’s not all good news for an industry such...
Survey: Short-stay residents want more help with meds, clinician connections upon discharge
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 03, 2021
Fully 80% of respondents said they received and understood their discharge instructions. But at least two-thirds would have liked more help with their medication regimen, physician referrals, and other...
CMS’s goal: All Medicare, most Medicaid recipients in an affordable care plan by 2030
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 01, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a radical, 10-year overhaul to its care delivery programs that could have a major impact on the long-term care sector.
Vaccinated people easily transmit COVID in close quarters, daily testing reveals
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 29, 2021
People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are just as infectious as their unvaccinated counterparts, albeit for a shorter period of time, finds an unusual new household study from the United Kingdom.
Breathing spreads TB more than cough, groundbreaking study reveals
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 29, 2021
Fully 90% of infectious tuberculosis droplets are expelled by breathing alone, finds a study that may contradict decades of clinical teaching.
Brief training for LTC nurses leads to 6 months of reduced psychotropics use
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 26, 2021
Wards with trained nurses showed a significant reduction in psychotropic drug use and drug costs. Maintenance strategies may be needed, however, as the improvements had waned by 12 months, researchers...
With Phase 3 guidance nearing, skilled nursing providers advised ‘don’t wait’ on infection preventionist,...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 22, 2021
Final, long-awaited guidance related to nursing home Requirements of Participation may soon be here. The rules were fundamentally rewritten and implemented in three phases starting in 2016 but still have...
FDA expands COVID booster shot access; says vaccines can be mixed or matched
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 21, 2021
The agency has amended the emergency use authorizations for Moderna’s and Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines to allow for the use of a single booster dose in certain eligible groups.
‘Unrealistic’ for providers to believe COVID-19 will be fully eliminated: expert
By
Danielle Brown
Oct 20, 2021
A pandemic expert on Monday told long-term care providers that going back to normal and completely eliminating COVID-19 “will likely never happen” in the United States.