CMS posts specifics on staffing, payroll data collection for Five Star ratings
By
John Hall
Apr 15, 2015
The government has posted technical specifications showing long-term care facilities how to electronically submit staffing information based on payroll data under a new system that becomes mandatory in...
DOL compels providers to pay $6.8 million for lost wages, underpayments
By
John Hall
Apr 10, 2015
More than 1,300 low-wage workers in northern California will get about $6.8 million in back pay from nursing homes and other long-term care facilities as a result of an ongoing U.S. Department of Labor...
Controversy erupts after webcam removal from disabled resident’s nursing home room
By
John Hall
Apr 06, 2015
It’s not clear yet whether Pennsylvania will become the fifth state to adopt rules or laws prohibiting or allowing private video recording or surveillance in nursing homes. But one Philadelphia nursing...
Researchers recommend attacking loneliness to lower seniors’ costs, doctor visits
By
John Hall
Apr 02, 2015
More aggressive interventions with lonely elders may significantly decrease physician visits and healthcare costs, authors of a recent study conclude.
Coroner rules odd nursing home death accidental; state findings yet to be released
By
John Hall
Mar 26, 2015
The coroner of St. Clair County, where an 85-year-old resident of a suburban St. Louis nursing home was found dead, strapped to her wheelchair at the bottom of some stairs, ruled Wednesday the death was...
Caregivers may be focusing on ‘futile’ measures: Brown study
By
John Hall
Mar 23, 2015
New research concludes that nursing home caregivers well-versed in palliative care tend to focus less on possibly futile “aggressive” life-saving measures.
Analysis shows Obamacare has had little effect on large employers
By
John Hall
Mar 19, 2015
The Affordable Care Act has prompted few large companies to change or begin offering health insurance plans to their employees — because most already comply with the president’s signature healthcare...
Congress mulls Medicaid-Medicare pay parity, and end of ‘doc fixes’
By
John Hall
Mar 16, 2015
Long-term care providers are closely monitoring two major lawmaking efforts in Washington this week that have both chambers of Congress debating a plan to end annual Medicare cuts and abolish painful “fixes”...
SNF victory in federal appeals court expected to cause review of other deficiency cases
By
John Hall
Mar 09, 2015
A federal appeals court has upheld fines emanating from a pair of deficiencies found and affirmed at a California nursing home. But the provider and its legal counsel are thrilled because the court also...
Quality improving in nursing homes: CMS review
By
John Hall
Mar 04, 2015
The 2015 National Impact Assessment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Quality Measures Report shows “clear progress in improving the healthcare delivery system to achieve the three...