BREAKING: CMS finalizes 2.7% pay raise, two year phase-in for PDPM cuts
By
Danielle Brown
Jul 29, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday afternoon announced a finalized cut to nursing home Medicare pay rates for fiscal 2023.
Outlook 2024: On staffing, operators say they’ll ‘find a way’ but agency boom, admission restrictions...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 05, 2024
More than half — 55% — of skilled nursing leaders say they would need to hire more agency staff if a proposed federal staffing mandate is enacted. That’s just one finding from the McKnight’s 2024...
Medicaid daily revenue hits record as skilled nursing occupancy dispute flares
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 03, 2023
Medicaid revenue per patient day in skilled nursing facilities rose to a record level in January, even as similar measures for Medicare retreated.
States need to step up with nurse aide waiver clearer, providers say
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 31, 2022
The formal extension of a waiver program that relaxes certification requirements for some nurse aides was widely embraced by providers a day after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced...
Whether facing an exodus or a trickle, LTC operators are activating these hiring strategies ahead of...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 23, 2021
When Salmon Health and Retirement instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its four Massachusetts nursing homes, CEO Matt Salmon was confident in the decision because he expected state officials would...
Providers: Staffing rule a CMS ‘fairy tale’ that will ‘exacerbate’ nursing home access issue
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 23, 2024
Despite minor concessions in a staffing mandate issued Monday, many nursing home providers were shell-shocked by what they saw as federal regulators’ intractable stance on minimums at a time when nearly...
Return of 3-day stay, loss of nurse aides bearing down on nursing homes with PHE’s end
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 11, 2023
Nursing homes today will mark the end of a devastating era in healthcare that nonetheless provided the sector with previously unimagined operating flexibilities.
Rising costs squeeze employees, put facilities ‘years behind’: 2022 McKnight’s Mood of the Market
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 18, 2022
Nursing home administrators say inflation has most affected costs for nurses and other labor over the last year, but higher charges are also forcing many to close wings, restrict admissions and put off...
CMS to begin audits for schizophrenia coding, says citations will affect quality ratings
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 19, 2023
The agency will start auditing nursing homes this month to determine whether residents’ schizophrenia diagnoses are accurate and appropriately coded. A pattern of inaccurate coding may result in a quality...
After dry spells, providers get vital Medicaid increases. Now the big fear: Will they be ‘1-and-done’?
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 12, 2023
As Medicaid negotiations successfully continue in various states, worries are already arising about how to sustain increases