For skilled nursing facilities, the Medicare SNF 3-day rule can make it difficult to place the right patients in the right setting at the right time. The 3-day rule requires that a Medicare beneficiary...
When it comes to paying for long-term care, public and private options can both fail
By
John O'Connor
Oct 07, 2013
What happened last week in Washington was not exactly highlight reel material. That is, unless you want to showcase public sector dysfunction.
Taking care of Medicare and Medicaid’s dual-eligibles: A job for Super- , er, Ombudsman
By
Tim Mullaney
Jul 16, 2013
Giving long-term care stakeholders a reason to cheer, California recently requested a federal waiver to implement Cal MedConnect, a demonstration project meant to improve care coordination for people who...
Ask the payment expert … about quality and reimbursement correlations
By
Patricia Boyer
Jun 01, 2013
How can the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services correlate quality of care and reimbursement?
You always need to remember that Medicare is an insurance plan. As such, Medicare has rules, just like...
There’s no place like the county nursing home
By
Elizabeth Newman
May 16, 2013
Whether you are an employee, resident, citizen or member of another group, you can learn from the lessons I’ve learned while exhaustively investigating a story about running and saving county nursing...
Of Purell and payment reform
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 16, 2013
I was sympathetic when the Partnership for Sustainable Health Care called for a speedier shift away from fee-for-service last week — and I also thought about Purell. Yes, that Purell.
The lessons of Fuaja Singh
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Apr 09, 2013
Fuaja Singh completed his last marathon in Hong Kong only a few weeks before he turned 102 years old recently. He said he feels it might be time to retire from running marathons, but he plans to continue...
A study that may never be done — but should
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 28, 2013
Government agencies and lobbyists are famous for conducting studies that prove a point — theirs, namely. That’s why I’ll be very interested to see who will have the courage to conduct one...
AHCA’s Parkinson ‘cautiously optimistic,’ despite sequester and other looming fiscal...
By
John O'Connor
Mar 07, 2013
A newly enacted sequester may be trimming Medicare payments to skilled nursing operators, but the sector remains strong and poised for future growth. That assessment was delivered Wednesday by the head...
Compliance clock ticks
By
Terese Farhat
Feb 02, 2013
Nursing facilities have always faced an array of obligations in order to provide services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, which can sometimes seem burdensome in comparison with other providers....