OIG writing compliance guidebook to assist nursing home sector, hints at focus areas
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 19, 2024
The federal government’s top watchdog is working on sector-specific guides to assist nursing homes in keeping in compliance with federal regulations. Particular attention will be given to some challenging...
Medicare audits ‘ramping up’ with isolation coding in the crosshairs
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 22, 2024
Auditors are paying special attention to isolation and quarantine coding amid already heightened Medicare nursing home audits that are expected to increase in coming months, experts warn.
Bake sale-supported nursing home now pursues ‘fairer’ memory care swaps for survival
By
Josh Henreckson
Apr 05, 2024
A Rhode Island nursing home that had turned to a grassroots funding campaign that included a resident-run bake sale to avoid closure has announced a new plan to stabilize finances and remain open.
Also in the News for Friday, May 10, 2024
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 10, 2024
Skilled nursing providers included as collaborators in new CMS organ transplant model … Older adults with aggressive blood cancer are responsive to treatment and show prolonged survival … Ear doc to...
Technology, advocacy required to empower workers in LTC, healthcare’s ‘hardest setting’
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 20, 2024
Facing the reality that most new nurses don’t choose to enter geriatrics, skilled nursing and senior living leaders are both going back to the basics and seizing on innovation to grow their direct care...
Nursing home workers praised for roles in harrowing tornado evacuation
By
Josh Henreckson
May 13, 2024
Staff members of Barnsdall Nursing Home were quick to jump into action during a tornado that damaged their Barnsdall, OK, long-term care facility Monday night and forced a full evacuation in the aftermath....
CMS adds enhanced barrier precautions to infection control guidance
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 22, 2024
Nursing homes must begin to use enhanced barrier precautions to prevent broader transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms and to help protect patients with chronic wounds and indwelling devices, the...
Congress advisers back permanent telehealth expansions, look to nix in-person rule for behavioral telehealth...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 12, 2024
Maintaining Medicare beneficiaries’ access to telehealth services, especially for behavioral health, must remain an initial priority over payment reform or quality measurement, members of a congressional...
Sabra CEO: REIT poised to grow, with little skepticism about future defeat of staffing rule
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 10, 2024
While Sabra Health Care executives Thursday painted their first quarter performance as a sure-footed continuation of late 2023 successes, analysts raised pointed questions about the potential impact of...
[UPDATED] BREAKING: CMS proposes 4.1 percent nursing homes pay boost; staffing minimum not addressed
By
James M. Berklan
Mar 29, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Thursday proposed a 4.1% pay increase for nursing homes in fiscal 2025 but declined to issue an update on its staffing minimum proposal as part of its annual...