Merck to seek emergency use for COVID-19 antiviral pill that cuts severe outcomes by 50 percent
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 04, 2021
Molnupiravir has reduced COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations by half in a new clinical trial. An orally delivered drug could offer unprecedented treatment convenience, the drug’s developers say.
Long-term care’s problems are bad and getting worse — but fixable
By
Stephen A. Moses
Oct 01, 2021
The long-term care business is hurting: labor shortages, wage pressures, vax mandates, too much Medicaid, too little private pay, value-based reimbursement, MedPAC vs. Medicare and so on and on. What should...
Now-open portal provides path to additional Provider Relief Funds
By
Danielle Brown
Oct 01, 2021
Long-term care operators can now begin applying for a share of $25.5 billion in COVID-19 relief money after the application portal for Phase 4 Provider Relief Fund and rural payments opened on Wednesday.
Lawmakers want $4 billion nursing home compensation fund, extended statute of limitations
By
Danielle Brown
Oct 01, 2021
New York lawmakers want to establish a $4 billion compensation fund, similar to the one formed after the Sept. 11 attacks, for families of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Seniors have fewer chemotherapy side effects with supportive care program, clinical trial finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 01, 2021
Patients in the intervention group experienced a 10% reduction in moderate side effects — without significant chemotherapy modifications or dose reductions, investigators say.
Operators ‘reluctant to terminate’ workers as state vaccine deadline hits
By
Danielle Brown
Sep 30, 2021
The ongoing workforce shortage is pushing New York long-term care providers to be flexible with workers still hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine even after the state’s healthcare worker mandate...
Suspended doctor who freely signed COVID vaccination and mask waivers being investigated
By
Danielle Brown
Sep 30, 2021
Workers at Connecticut long-term care facilities now find themselves in the middle of a conflict between the state and a suspended doctor accused of freely handing COVID-19 vaccine and mask exemptions...
No unexpected pattern of adverse booster shot reactions reported by CDC app users
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 30, 2021
Most v-safe app respondents reported mild to moderate, transient reactions, usually the day after vaccination, CDC investigators say. Sixty percent of respondents were between the ages of 50 and 74.
Feds pledge fraud enforcement surge, while others seek whistleblowers
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 29, 2021
Skilled nursing providers will remain in the crosshairs as fraud enforcement picks up post-COVID, but it’s not just federal officials taking aim, according to one of the government’s top healthcare...
‘Another layer of protection’: Senior care industry commends feds’ booster vaccine decision
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 27, 2021
Industry advocates are welcoming the decision to include residents of long-term care settings and healthcare workers in a new federal recommendation to offer COVID-19 booster shots to at-risk adults.