CMS drops expected draft of MDS updates … OIG to audit use of contracted surveyors … OIG to CDC: Improve support for COVID nursing home data submission … Nursing home operators booted from state...
Rural nursing homes’ livelihood may depend on non-existent staff
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 15, 2024
In August, Candace Carey left her job of eight years — monitoring eggs at a nearby chicken farm for nearly $18 an hour — and took a pay cut to watch over and tend to human beings instead as a CNA.
Gripped by uncertainty, skilled nursing providers just keep breathing
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 10, 2024
Uncertainty may very well be the defining outlook for skilled nursing providers in 2024. At the very least, it was the theme that dominated our annual survey attempting to capture your attitudes heading...
Outlook 2024: ‘Glimmer of hope’ amid financial strain, merger uncertainty
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 09, 2024
Far fewer nursing home owners and administrators see a definite sale or merger in 2024, but that could easily change as financial and operational uncertainty continue to dog the sector’s decision-makers.
Empty beds, untenable staffing needs push the nation’s rural nursing homes closer to the brink
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 08, 2024
Like many of its skilled nursing neighbors in the Cornhusker State, Good Samaritan Society-Bloomfield is teetering between fulfilling its vital community role with special small-town flourishes and succumbing...
Outlook 2024: On staffing, operators say they’ll ‘find a way’ but agency boom, admission restrictions...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 05, 2024
More than half — 55% — of skilled nursing leaders say they would need to hire more agency staff if a proposed federal staffing mandate is enacted. That’s just one finding from the McKnight’s 2024...
Judge slashes punitive damages, throws out verdicts against two nursing home defendants in $19M case
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 05, 2024
Two corporate defendants in a nursing home negligence case that netted plaintiffs a $19 million verdict have been found not liable following post-ruling motions, while a judge reduced punitive damages...
State to reward providers for reducing agency nurse use
By
Kimberly Marselas
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Jan 04, 2024
Skilled nursing providers have been working hard to reduce agency dependency in the wake of the pandemic and rising labor costs.
‘Bleak’ outlook: Unknowns and impossibilities shrink provider optimism for 2024
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 02, 2024
After rebounding from the pandemic’s darkest days, many skilled nursing administrators and nurse leaders are again feeling less-than-excited about the sector’s future heading into 2024.
MDS, quality reporting changes give providers a ‘bumpy road’ ahead
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 21, 2023
Major changes to resident assessment tools, increasing quality reporting requirements and new state Medicaid payment tools will continue to dog providers well into 2024, a trio of clinical and reimbursement...