The unfortunate overlap of multiple payment-reduction laws and regulations could add up to $65 billion less for skilled nursing home budgets over the next 10 years, according to nationwide data released today. Read More »
What is a LTC provider to do when contracted service providers fail to follow through with certain responsibilities, resulting in denial of Medicare/Medicaid payments and civil penalties? LTC provider Daniel Farley shares the approach used by his organization to be proactive in resolving potential problems in advance. Read More »
Read about the regions and job titles that pay nursing home employees the most in the annual nursing home payscale survey, released this week. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is finally set to begin a three-year project to reduce fraud and errors by using RACs to check Medicare claims before they move to the payment stage. Read More »
Staff overload could cost your facility plenty, as one research center draws a direct relationship between burnout and healthcare-associated infections. Read More »
With increased government oversight and efforts to find inappropriately paid Medicare funds, facility staff may end a Medicare stay prematurely for fear of being audited and having their claim denied. What is the key to balancing provision of skilled care and avoiding auditor take-backs? Read More »
CMS will increase prospective payment system pay rates to skilled nursing facilities by almost 2 percent, based on its yearly rate adjustment report. Read More »
A low-premium, high-deductible health plan used to be viewed as "the single consumer's plan." Now, high-deductible plans are a favorite of employers, especially for large-group coverage. Read More »
Many changes are ahead for employers concerning employee health insurance benefits. Some of the rules will begin as early as this fall. Nancy Taylor, co-chair, Health & FDA Business Practice at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLC, discusses the key strategies employers should consider in preparing for compliance. Read More »
LTC providers are investing more heavily in short-term rehab as a way to recoup shrinking Medicare reimbursements while taking on higher-acuity cases in order to keep residents out of the hospital. Meanwhile, they are giving wellness amenities and programs higher priority as families evaluate facilities with a more discerning eye. Read More »
The key to your future data-sharing compliance may already be within your own daily data. Mining that data can reveal a lot about the organization's strengths--and its weaknesses. Read More »
U.S. hospitals are making little progress in reducing patient readmissions despite government initiatives and looming financial penalties, according to Medicare data released Thursday, reports Kaiser Health News. Read More »
CMS offers $275 million to 25 more states the funding to design and build new payment models that bring multiple payers together and improve the care delivery system. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ controversial Five-Star Quality Rating System, which rates the nation’s nursing homes, is in the news this week with CMS unveiling its revamped Nursing Home Compare website. Since its introduction in 2008, the rating system has been maligned by LTC providers for its perceived faults and omissions. Read More »
To me cleaning out my nose is a very private thing. I do not like depending on others to do it. Having an aide assist me to blow my nose does not always do the job. It needs to be cleaned with a cotton swab. I understand some aides are squeamish about doing it. But if it is not done, I am uncomfortable. Read More »
According to a recent study, one in every six admissions to nursing homes was for individuals who had a history of emphysema or COPD. This puts greater pressure on LTC facilities to gain a stronger understanding of the disease and to meet new demands in terms of assessment and treatment. Read More »
One group cheering the court’s decision is the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA), which maintains that upholding of the healthcare act will result in earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease—with care thereby starting sooner—while helping millions with more effective and efficient treatment. Read More »
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections remain at historically high levels whereas most other types of healthcare-associated infections are declining. The CDC recommends that healthcare clinicians and facility administrators implement the following six prevention steps into their facilities’ infection control plan. Read More »
A stunning 99 percent of nursing home records examined by the OIG failed to meet one or more of the federal guidelines for assessing and documenting the use of antipsychotic drugs. Read More »
Where a consumer lives plays a large role in his or her financial planning for long-term care. Costs from the nursing home through the home care categories vary greatly, according to a national study. Read More »
I think a resident’s greatest concern is that their needs will be forgotten. Most residents realize other residents have important and frequent needs. Some residents have probably been forgotten and feel they must be emphatic to get what they need. Read More »
While trying to save on prescription costs, seniors in the Medicare Part D doughnut hole are skipping or reducing their maintenance medications for depression, chronic heart failure and diabetes, among other chronic conditions, recent data suggests. Read More »
Pressure ulcers are painful and dangerous for residents and costly for facilities. Next year, PUs are going to cost facilities even more. Learn how to improve wound care intervention to protect your patients and manage risk. Read More »
In Connecticut, the state has given permission to its corrections commissioner to release the sickest and most frail inmates to palliative or hospice care. Read More »
Portable stroke monitors, video visits, diabetes testing on a cell phone… these tools and more are coming soon to a healthcare site near you, according to an emerging technology report. Read More »
Leaders digest: So the ACA stays. What now? Long-Term Living’s editors speak with leaders in the long-term and post-acute care industry the day the Supreme Court decision is announced. Read More »
BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court has decided the Affordable Care Act will stay in place. The majority voted to keep individual mandate and the right for Congress to offer funding for state reform programs. Read More »
