Skilled Nursing providers would see a 1.4% increase in Medicare payments in 2014 as the result of a new proposed rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. The proposed rule would update the Medicare payment rates for skilled nursing facilities for fiscal year 2014 by raising the rate to providers by 1.4%. The… Read More »
A recently-formed Commission on Long-Term Care received three new leadership appointments last week by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, with fourth and fifth appointments announced in the last couple days by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). Bringing expertise from the fields of health care and senior care including Medicare,… Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a partnership with 145 nursing homes last weekend as part of seven cooperative agreement awards that will implement the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents. Through the program, facilities will test models to improve the quality of care given to recently-discharged hospital patients… Read More »
Healthcare policy groups have a message for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding its efforts to improve care coordination for the nation’s dual eligibles: slow down. At least one person has an even stronger opinion regarding the future of the initiative, reports Politico, as Senator Jay Rockefeller (D.-W.Va.) has called for an… Read More »
Skilled nursing facilities will get an estimated $670 million boost in Medicare payments during fiscal year 2013 through the updated market basket rate, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last Friday. The prospective payment system (PPS) update for skilled nursing provides a 1.8% increase to the market basket rate for 2013, for an… Read More »
Nursing homes overwhelming fail to properly use and document antipsychotic drugs, finds a July 2012 Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, as more than 99% of the records it reviewed for senior residents in skilled nursing facilities receiving atypical antipsychotic drugs during the first half of 2007 lacked evidence indicating they met all Federal requirements for… Read More »
Nursing Home Compare will now offer more data on the facilities it lists as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks to increase transparency in data sharing to improve the health system. The revamped website now includes narratives that detail specific findings from inspections of nursing home facilities, along with two new measures… Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule on July 6 to update payment policies and rates that will go into effect for services furnished on or after January 1, 2013. LeadingAge has a list of some key provisions that will affect senior care providers: Primary Care and Care Coordination “For… Read More »
Leading up to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the fate of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and the concept of coordinated care in general was somewhat uncertain depending on which side the decision would come down. But with healthcare reform upheld, ACOs are in full gear—in fact, there’s a… Read More »
Senior Care Tech Innovation Shines at TedMed 2013
The Innovation Series is Brought to you by Care Innovations, a joint venture between Intel Corporation and GE, committed to creating technology-based solutions that give people confidence to live independently, wherever they are. With GE’s expertise in healthcare and Intel’s expertise in technology – we’re innovating to change the way care and solutions are delivered.… Read More »
Will Google’s Robo-Cars Drive Senior Independence?
The Innovation Series is Brought to you by Care Innovations, a joint venture between Intel Corporation and GE, committed to creating technology-based solutions that give people confidence to live independently, wherever they are. With GE’s expertise in healthcare and Intel’s expertise in technology – we’re innovating to change the way care and solutions are delivered.… Read More »
“Digital Pills” Could Help Senior Care With More Than Just Meds
The Innovation Series is Brought to you by Care Innovations, a joint venture between Intel Corporation and GE, committed to creating technology-based solutions that give people confidence to live independently, wherever they are. With GE’s expertise in healthcare and Intel’s expertise in technology – we’re innovating to change the way care and solutions are delivered.… Read More »
On the Record: Tana Gall, Partner & President of Leisure Care
Tana Gall, president of Seattle-based retirement community management company Leisure Care, made the leap into the senior living industry almost 19 years ago after being lured away from a job in advertising and marketing. Since then, she has used her extensive knowledge of her own company and the industry as a whole as she leads Leisure… Read More »
On the Record: Scott Brinker, EVP of Investments at Health Care REIT
One of 2012′s biggest senior living deals, the $845 million acquisition of Sunrise Senior Living by Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN) in a transaction that spun off the company’s management team and gave Sunrise investors $14.50 per share, was completed two weeks ago but continues to grow as joint venture interests are bought out. The… Read More »
On the Record: Alan Rosenbloom, President of The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care
The nursing home industry hasn’t exactly had the easiest of paths for the past fifteen or so years, especially after Congress’s Balanced Budget Act of 1997 attempted to restructure the Medicare reimbursement system and ended up cutting about $16 billion from the program, instead of the originally intended reduction of about $9-10 million. Alan G. Rosenbloom,… Read More »
