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...
Reaching for 5 stars? Leverage technology for staffing compliance
By
Marina Aslanyan
Nov 23, 2020
As additional waves of COVID-19 bear down on the long-term care and post-acute industry, it has never been more important for operators to comply with staffing regulations that best protect our most vulnerable...
How to make payroll-based journaling easy
By
Thomas Jegou
Jun 01, 2021
As reporting standards go, Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) reporting stands out as notoriously difficult. It involves a lot of labor and can be prone to ratings-endangering errors. Meeting the PBJ reporting...
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?
Regulators consider adding satisfaction surveys to nursing home rating system
Jul 10, 2009
Federal regulators are meeting with nursing home operators and other key stakeholders today to discuss ways in which resident and family satisfaction surveys might be factored into the new facility Five-Star...
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.
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...
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...
Increase your occupancy now
By
Steven Littlehale
Aug 02, 2021
Preparing for a presentation is always fun for me, especially when it involves original research. In anticipation of Reimbur$ement-Con, and my session “The Unexpected Nemesis,” we took a deep dive...
Which matters most: Social media or Five-Star?
By
Steven Littlehale
May 27, 2022
Recently my colleague Ken Kelley, MS, OTR/L, RAC-CT, a clinical consultant/reimbursement specialist, posited something about Five-Star ratings that I hadn’t considered. He suggested that, in general,...