The top professional association of long-term care physicians and medical directors has reiterated its commitment to reducing the use of antipsychotics for dementia care. It did so Tuesday, in response to a recent report that criticized prescribing practices.
May 14, 2013
Long-term care organizations have responded to a report that physicians are prescribing antipsychotic medications for seniors without proper oversight from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This is hampering efforts to reduce off-label antipsychotic use for dementia care in nursing homes, according to ProPublica, which compiled the report based on a review of Medicare Part D claims.
Skilled nursing providers fell well short of reaching a 15% reduction in off-label antipsychotic use by the end of 2012, the American Health Care Association announced Monday.
May 01, 2013
Skilled nursing facilities are expected to have missed their overall goal of reducing off-label use of antipsychotics by 15% for 2012, but they should continue to push for reductions, provider leaders said.
May 01, 2013
President Obama's proposed budget is dead in the water as long-term care providers see it. They stand to lose $81 billion over 10 years if the measure is approved.
Long-term care operators should be aware of potential defects affecting certain fire alarms manufactured by Honeywell, the American Health Care Association stated Monday.
April 24, 2013
As you have conversations about being the partner of choice to help hospitals reduce readmissions, others are having conversations about how telemedicine in the home will become the new primary care office. As you strive to drive more Medicare business, experts are saying that there is excess care for seniors.
April 11, 2013
The White House's proposed budget includes $81 billion in Medicare payment reductions to long-term care providers. The reductions would take place over 10 years, as part of the Obama administration's plan to reduce healthcare spending by $400 billion.
April 05, 2013
As part of its pushback against the manual review process for therapy claims, the American Health Care Association has launched a clearinghouse to gather provider feedback. AHCA President Mark Parkinson described the RAC-led review process as "bifurcated, confusing and wholly inappropriate" in a four-page letter sent to Acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner last week.
April 03, 2013
A majority of long-term care providers reduced hospital readmissions and the off-label use of antipsychotics within the last year, according to the American Health Care Association. The organization recently posted a progress report on the AHCA Quality Initiative, which was launched in February 2012.
April 01, 2013
Saying the current permanent visa programs for immigrants are "insufficient and inadequate" to meet long-term care staffing needs, the American Health Care Association outlined in March a vision for immigration reform.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate formally introduced legislation to close the so-called "observation stay loophole" on Thursday.
Saying the current permanent visa programs for immigrants are "insufficient and inadequate" to meet long-term care staffing needs, the American Health Care Association outlined its vision of immigration reform Wednesday.
March 11, 2013
I was hoping to get clear answers about the sector's future at the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry's regional meeting last week in San Diego. I did, but I also must admit there were times when it was hard to give the various speakers the attention they deserved.
A newly enacted sequester may be trimming Medicare payments to skilled nursing operators, but the sector remains strong and poised for future growth. That assessment was delivered Wednesday by the head of the nation's largest nursing home association at a conference in San Diego hosted by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry.
Medline Industries has launched a program intended to support four key quality goals of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. Called Advancing Quality Together, Medline's program targets the following areas: Safely reduce hospital readmissions, improve staff stability, increase customer satisfaction and safely reduce the off-label use of antipsychotics.
March 01, 2013
Q: What are your goals as a member of the new national long-term care commission? A: My hope is we look at the whole system and make sure there are rational incentives. We have to take scarce resources and spread them appropriately.
The America Health Care Association will host its annual Developmental Disabilities Providers Congressional fly-in event Wednesday in the nation's capital. In the morning, healthcare providers serving this population will hear from top guest speakers and also receive an overview of current legislative issues facing them. Visits to legislators are on tap for the afternoon. These are special opportunities to meet with lawmakers, and their key staff members, who can impact policy for DD residents and caregivers.
March 01, 2013
Skilled nursing facilities collected Medicare payments of $5.1 million in 2009 for care that did not satisfy government quality measures, according to a report released Thursday. Prominent nursing home advocates say they're taking the report seriously but counter that the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) is presenting an incomplete picture.
February 26, 2013
LeadingAge and the American Health Care Association have joined a growing list of organizations opposed to Medicaid cost-sharing provisions in the Affordable Care Act. More than 700 respondents submitted comments within the last month to the Jan. 22 proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living came out in support of bipartisan legislation to permanently repeal Medicare Part B therapy caps for skilled nursing facilities. The legislation was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate on Feb. 15.
February 15, 2013
Over in South Korea, precocious robots have been sniffing the air at a few nursing home test sites and neutralizing unwelcome odors. Or at least they were, but now have probably been reassigned to nose around for radioactive effluvium from a nuclear test by a despotic neighbor. Talk about your ultimate call-in.
February 01, 2013
What does a not-for-profit council do for a mostly for-profit association like AHCA?
December 21, 2012
As lawmakers negotiated a budget deal Thursday, the American Health Care Association voiced its objection to cutting the Medicaid Provider Assessment statutory threshold.
The cumulative effect of cuts has been "devastating," AHCA President and CEO Mark Parkinson said.
December 12, 2012
As fiscal cliff negotiations continue, nine state chapters of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living have sent representatives to meet with lawmakers in the nation's capital.
December 06, 2012
A group of 20 national healthcare organizations supporting current allowable "bed tax" levels, have asked the ceiling not be changed as part of current federal budget talks in a letter sent Tuesday to President Obama and the leaders of Congress.
While Congressional lawmakers continue to negotiate avoiding the looming so-called fiscal cliff, a long-term care provider group reports Americans oppose cutting Medicare payments to nursing homes.
October 30, 2012
As waves pounded the Eastern Seaboard on Monday due to Hurricane Sandy, long-term care facilities put their disaster response plans to work.
October 29, 2012
I recently had the good fortune of interviewing three of the industry's top association executives. If their collective advice could be distilled to a bumper sticker-sized message, here's how it would read: Change is here, deal with it.
