CMS releases new version of software for collecting assessment information … CT hospitals must now inform patients of observation status … CA assisted living facilities face multiple requirements...
Also in the news for Sept. 30, 2014 . . .
Sep 30, 2014
CMS clarifies appropriate use of power strips in long-term care resident rooms …GAO: Integrating Medicare and Medicaid may not reduce costs on dual-eligible care … Brookdale discriminated against...
Providers must see clearly before they CHOW down
By
Richard Cheng
Sep 29, 2014
When a skilled nursing facility changes ownership, the change is known in healthcare vernacular as a change of ownership or “CHOW.” Because this could wind up endangering a Medicare provider...
Senators push CMS to expand program for long-term care outside nursing homes
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 26, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should loosen regulations to allow more people to receive care in the community rather than in nursing homes, a bipartisan group of Senators wrote in a recent...
White House to providers: New antibiotic regs on the way
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 23, 2014
Long-term care providers should take pride in their antipsychotic reduction efforts, and certainly should work hard to meet the new goals announced Friday. But it should not escape their notice that just...
Antipsychotics reduction goal raised to 30% by end of 2016, CMS and provider groups announce
By
Elizabeth Newman
Sep 19, 2014
Long-term care providers are being asked to reduce the use of antipsychotic medications among residents by 25% by the end of 2015, and 30% by the end of 2016. Providers have already achieved a 17.1% reduction...
Also in the news for Sept. 19, 2014
Sep 19, 2014
Americans are the most worried about losing their eyesight as they age, poll says …. AHCA says MedPAC Chairman is ‘spot-on’ with three-day stay comments … Medicare Advantage enrollment...
ICD-10 is around the corner, for real this time
Sep 18, 2014
There’s a looming massive report on all the hospital readmissions data in your area and the strategic plan your facility needs to pursue. It involves talking to lots of employees, gathering data,...
Medicare Part B could have saved $110 million, OIG asserts
By
Elizabeth Newman
Sep 18, 2014
If the Medicare Part B program had used average Medicare Part D drug dispensing and fee rates, it would have saved the government $110 million in 2011, according to a report from the Department of Health...
Stakeholders need to prepare for the loss of long-term care’s exemption to e-prescribing
By
Cynthia Morton
Sep 15, 2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is set to lift long-term care’s exemption from its e-prescribing rule as of Nov. 1. This is bigger news than most realize right now, and there has been...