In adjusting to new case-mix systems under the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM), the changes to reimbursement rates might be more widespread and large-scale than anticipated, posing financing threats to the nursing home sector because lenders are basing loans on rate projections that are expected to be scaled back. The goal of budget neutrality –...
Facilities in Ohio are one step closer to receiving higher Medicaid reimbursements for private nursing home rooms after an executive order signed by Gov. Mike DeWine (R). The Nov. 30 order declares a timing emergency, allowing the Ohio Department of Medicaid to bypass the typical wait period and immediately adopt final rules for providers looking...
The plight of a private-equity backed, multi-state nursing home chain demonstrates the ugly challenges operators could face as officials ratchet up regulatory and transparency pressures and large-scale investors move out of the skilled nursing space. Federal officials have announced they will terminate Medicare payments to Viviant Healthcare of Bristol, TN, on Sunday (Dec. 10). That comes...
At no point along his three-year path to earning a degree in physical therapy has Matthew Lee worried about getting a job. Being able to make a living off that degree? That’s a different question — and the answer is affecting the supply of physical therapists across the nation: The cost of getting trained is...
A new study found that integrating Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training-Primary Care (GITT-PC) can improve primary care for older adults. Essentially, GITT-PC trains healthcare workers to function as a team while integrating geriatric care into primary care settings. It can focus on using nurses instead of doctors. Overall, the model aims to change practices by leveraging...
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) has pledged to introduce a highly anticipated bill to block the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from implementing its proposed nursing home staffing mandate, although the timing remained unclear Wednesday. Fischer announced her plans in a weekly column posted to her Senate website, saying the legislation would prevent CMS’ “misguided...
A surveyor’s testimony took the spotlight recently in a criminal fraud trial involving leaders of two nursing homes. Susan Williamson, director of nursing care facilities for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, outlined an alleged pattern of cost-cutting by evading state staffing regulations at two skilled nursing facilities — Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness and Brighton...
When some residents had no gifts to unwrap one Christmas morning, the staff of Princeton Health Care Center decided to do something about it. PHCC launched the annual Adopt-a-Resident program in 2019 — going beyond the facility’s usual family gift-giving tradition and asking the local community to pitch in with donations for residents so that...
Operational pressures continue to shape the landscape of the skilled nursing sector as many organizations with assets across the care continuum are divesting nursing homes in favor of other service lines. Responding to pressures from staffing and low reimbursements, Ohio Living decided to act “proactively” and downsize its skilling nursing segment while growing its services...
The past year or two have seen big wins in terms of increased Medicaid funding for nursing homes – a welcome relief as the sector faces staffing shortages amid a looming minimum staffing proposal, higher inflationary costs and rising acuity of resident needs. The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL)...
