A warning if you accepted Provider Relief Funds: Prepare to be audited
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 20, 2022
Skilled nursing providers who accepted Provider Relief Funds should prepare for widespread audits by later this year.
Grabowski: Too many loopholes in federal vaccine mandate may retain staff, but endanger residents
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 24, 2021
Federal officials might pursue a regional approach or offer exemptions in finalizing a nursing home staff vaccination mandate, but it’s important they not water down the regulations so much as to undermine...
Providers must take more nuanced approach to visitors, CMS nursing home chief warns
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 13, 2021
OXON HILL, MD — Federal regulators are expecting nursing homes to do more to “maximize visitation,” according to a top official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Vitamin D deficiency may nearly double coronavirus risk, study finds
By
Kimberly Marselas
Sep 08, 2020
Researchers determined that the relative risk of testing positive for COVID-19 was 1.77 times greater for patients with a deficiency of the vitamin compared with those who had a sufficient supply.
A potential ‘miracle’? Feds push monoclonal antibody treatments toward SNFs
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 19, 2021
COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies are now widely available for use by skilled nursing facilities — and early results show promise, according to long-term care pharmacy leaders.
CA Supreme Court backs employers in ‘take-home’ COVID case
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 10, 2023
Nursing homes and other employers cannot be held legally or financially responsible for preventing the spread of COVID-19 from their employees to their household members, the California Supreme Court has...
BREAKING: CMS vaccine mandate upheld
By
Kimberly Marselas
James M. Berklan
Jan 13, 2022
A vaccine requirement for staff at all U.S. nursing homes and other federally funded healthcare facilities can proceed, the Supreme Court said in a 5-4 decision Thursday afternoon.
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases are increasing, but experts say deadly outbreaks aren’t inevitable
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 12, 2021
Eight months and thousands of vaccinations made an “amazing” difference in two COVID-19 outbreaks at Masonicare’s Wallingford, CT, campus.
CPAP makers offer noninvasive alternatives to in-demand vents
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 15, 2020
Noninvasive ventilation therapy, such as that provided by CPAP machines, could offer care for critically ill COVID-19 patients who aren’t yet in need of ventilators, according to a series of white papers...
Providers tell CMS it’s ‘decidedly’ the wrong time to toy with PDPM rates
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 03, 2021
Providers need more time before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would implement any adjustments to PDPM payment rates, operators and associations have told the agency in official comments.