CMS: Surveyors looking for education, not expertise, under COVID-19 vaccine rule that starts today
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 21, 2021
Nursing homes will not be expected to turn their staff members into vaccine experts under a new rule that requires all workers to be offered COVID-19 shots and to be educated about them, a federal official...
With Phase 3 guidance nearing, skilled nursing providers advised ‘don’t wait’ on infection preventionist,...
By
Kimberly Marselas
Oct 22, 2021
Final, long-awaited guidance related to nursing home Requirements of Participation may soon be here. The rules were fundamentally rewritten and implemented in three phases starting in 2016 but still have...
CMS warns states: Survey fully or suffer consequences
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 10, 2022
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Wednesday sternly warned state survey agencies they must enforce all aspects of the federal program’s health and safety requirements by long-standing agreement.
Recruiting firms help SNFs address turnover due to COVID-19
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 08, 2020
With long-standing turnover issues plaguing the industry, recruiting companies are encouraging providers to rethink their hiring and retention efforts to stave off a potential crisis. Arena is leveraging...
PointClickCare strengthens analytics portfolio to expand data insights
By
Kimberly Marselas
May 12, 2020
Senior care software provider PointClickCare Technologies has acquired Co-Pilot, an analytics solution developed by Consonus Healthcare. Co-Pilot offers robust analytical capabilities, including rehospitalization...
How QIOs, strike teams helped in COVID-19 trenches with majority of nursing homes
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 04, 2021
Federal strike teams and quality improvement contractors, acting in expanded roles, helped reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection by guiding interventions at more than half of all U.S. nursing homes, said...
Long-term care remains in the dark about infection preventionist requirements
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 13, 2021
The need for infection preventionists has never been greater, but 13 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, long-term care providers still remain in the dark as to who will fit the federal government’s final...
PointClickCare adds infection prevention and control tool
By
Kimberly Marselas
Apr 29, 2020
PointClickCare on Tuesday announced a new infection prevention and control solution designed to provide ongoing, centralized resident surveillance at the facility and enterprise level. Clinical teams,...
BREAKING: CMS issues reprieve for 2,500 nursing homes yet to report COVID vaccination rates
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jun 14, 2021
Nursing homes that have not reported required resident and staff vaccination rates to federal officials will get a one-week reprieve before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services begins assessing...
Whistleblowers driving COVID-19 lawsuits, but that’s not all bad news
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 23, 2021
Whistleblower complaints are the main type of lawsuit against healthcare providers so far this year, but anxious operators don’t necessarily have to worry.