Long-term care and CMS workers occupy common ground
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 03, 2013
Long-term care workers and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services employees might have a lot in common — and that’s not entirely good news.
Reducing antipsychotics one resident at a time
By
John O'Connor
Dec 02, 2013
Like many bad habits, the overuse of antipsychotics is not going down without a fight. Still, there are reasons for long-term optimism.
CMS fails to measure outcomes of the zone program integrity contractor program: government report
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 26, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is not thoroughly assessing how well zone program integrity contractors are contributing to Medicare anti-fraud efforts, according to a new report from the...
CMS too burdened and focused on cost to be the epicenter of long-term care reform, experts say
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 21, 2013
Most long-term care reforms rely on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for implementation, but the overburdened agency cannot manage all the needed changes in this area, according to a panel...
CMS clarifies Medicare payment rules for SNF to SNF ambulance transportation
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 08, 2013
A skilled nursing facility discharging a Medicare Part A resident to another SNF is responsible for ambulance transportation fees, and no separate Part B claim should be made for that service, the Centers...
Judge calls CMS cuts ‘arbitrary, capricious’
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 01, 2013
A group of nursing home operators recently won a moral victory over the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services when a federal appeals court ruled the agency made Medicaid reimbursement cuts without considering...
PET scans for Alzheimer’s rejected for Medicare pay
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 01, 2013
Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services released an action plan for tackling Alzheimer’s diagnostics, treatment and funding.
CMS clarifies compliance requirements, deadlines affected by government shutdown
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 29, 2013
Compliance deadlines, penalty timeframes and other survey and certification requirements for nursing facilities might be subject to adjustment due to the recent federal government shutdown, according to...
CMS: Nursing homes may not establish blanket no-CPR policies
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 28, 2013
Nursing homes will face survey citations for facility-wide policies that prohibit cardiopulmonary resuscitation for residents, according to a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services memorandum.
CMS clarifies long-term care quality review in managed care models
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 23, 2013
Noting that long-term care increasingly is being provided through Medicaid managed care plans, the government has released guidance on how to monitor the quality of care in these systems.