You have to wonder who is making some of the calls at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—because they don’t seem altogether consistent. While some decisions are spot on, others leave you...
Where were YOU when CMS changed the Five-Star rating system?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 20, 2015
Some things will always stay etched in our mind. Where were you on February 12, when CMS publicly announced immediate changes to the Five Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes?
The beauty of bad publicity
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 28, 2014
When I saw the New York Times article illuminating the clever ways devious operators could inflate their Medicare star ratings, I had mixed emotions ranging from fury to rage.
Maybe you don’t want to be in that preferred network …
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 23, 2017
When it comes to contemplating joining caregiving networks, maybe you have more in common with the hospital than you think. Poor-performing hospitals tend to coexist in the same market as poor-performing...
The Five Star Report, once again, in the SNF spotlight
By
Steven Littlehale
Sep 24, 2014
The Five Star Quality Rating System takes the spotlight on the front page of the New York Times and the top of the news cycle, kicking off other publicity and political pressure. Regardless of any of the...
Do the new QMs have you seeing stars?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 18, 2016
Actions providers take now will make or break their Five-Star Quality Rating experience in July. That’s because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has changed quality measures in a way...
The fault in our (5) stars
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Sep 19, 2014
So, let me start off by saying that I am sure a lot of us have our own rating systems. For example, my sisters and I have a tissue-box rating system for tearjerker books and movies. The book the “Fault...
Post-acute payment bundling system appears ominous
By
Liza Berger
May 21, 2009
Nursing homes have cause to worry about the prospect of a Medicare post-acute payment bundling system. If it pans out, facilities may end up on the losing side of the equation. That is just one of my takeaways...
Judge facilities on an individual basis
By
Liza Berger
Aug 07, 2009
A significant and perhaps somewhat controversial piece of research was released this week suggesting that not-for-profit nursing homes offer higher quality care overall than for-profits. That’s great...
Three stars will be the new one star
By
Betsy Rust
Dec 07, 2016
Nursing home operators call it low occupancy. Medicare insiders call it a declining census. Economists call it excess capacity.