Staffing agency use of ‘contractors’ opens nursing home clients to new risks
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 20, 2023
Staffing agencies that pay temporary nurses as contractors, issuing them 1099s instead of W-2 wage statements, may be putting the nursing homes who use them at increased legal risk.
Let’s remember MLK and his message about healthcare disparities
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Jan 19, 2023
In this day and age of all that is going on with nursing homes, it is important to focus on areas that don’t get much attention right now, but that are, nonetheless, critically important in our society. ...
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...
MedPAC to recommend 3 percent skilled nursing cut to Congress
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 13, 2023
A Congressional advisory commission on Thursday recommended a 3% cut to Medicare base payments for skilled nursing facilities in 2024.
Clinical briefs for Friday, Jan. 13
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 13, 2023
COVID-19 pneumonia requires longer ventilation, but outcomes similar to other pneumonias … Six daily minutes of intense exercise vs. fasting could delay dementia onset: study … Protein may be biomarker...
AHCA battles ‘crisis’ with new long-term care job education campaign
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Jan 12, 2023
Nursing homes’ largest advocacy group on Wednesday launched a national campaign to boost hiring in the face of an unprecedented worker shortage that is curtailing capacity and threatening the ability...
Cannabis-related issues sending more seniors to the ED, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 12, 2023
Cannabis-related ED visits for older adults shot up by a whopping 1,800% between 2005 to 2019 in California, investigators say. The state’s experience mirrors national trends.
Amyloid brain plaques not a sure sign of Alzheimer’s, researchers find
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 12, 2023
A new study challenges the theory that an increase in brain amyloid protein signals Alzheimer’s disease. The findings may be especially relevant to clinicians as amyloid-targeting drugs such as Leqembi...
Preventable diseases tied to common, age-related eye condition, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 11, 2023
Age-related macular degeneration is linked to two potentially treatable diseases, suggesting new pathways for preventing progression and blindness, investigators say.
Latest COVID shot cuts hospitalizations in seniors by 81 percent: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 10, 2023
Seniors who receive an omicron-adapted shot are 81% less likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID-19, according to a new study from Israel.