A lack of uniformity among hospital coders for developing conditions is a main reason for the "point of admission" errors, according to a Monday report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
November 07, 2012
It's interesting how competition can make strange bedfellows. Nursing homes and hospitals, for example, are next-door-neighbors on the caregiving block. We all know who has the bigger house on this block, and it often creates resentment.
Nineteen percent of long-term care nursing aides who were found guilty of on-the-job abuse, neglect, or property theft in 2010 had prior criminal convictions, a federal report revealed this week.
August 28, 2012
Healthcare providers will have an extra year to become compliant with ICD-10 coding standards and will be issued standardized identification codes, according to a final rule issued by Department of Health and Human Services on Friday.
July 23, 2012
Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee have accused the Department of Health and Human Services of overstepping its authority in implementing a controversial Medicare Advantage demonstration project.
July 10, 2012
Many nursing facilities are not compliant with federal regulations governing residents who take atypical antipsychotic medications, a federal review released Monday reveals.
The success rate of Medicare's volunteer force of fraud-detecting beneficiaries is declining, a government report finds.
June 11, 2012
Lawmakers again hammered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Medicare program integrity contractors Friday. The latest salvos were fueled by an agency admission that additional mistakes had been made.
The Department of Health and Human Services has announced its newest round of grant recipients under its Health Care Innovation Awards.
The federal government should take advantage of Affordable Care Act funds to improve the coordination and quality of care for the chronically ill, a new report recommends.
A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers introduced a resolution Tuesday in support of the Obama administration's goal of finding a treatment for Alzheimer's by 2025.
The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking public comments on its updated action plan — which includes efforts in nursing homes — to reduce or eliminate healthcare-associated infections.
More communication is needed between Medicare and Medicaid's respective program integrity officials, a new report suggests.
Insurance stalwart Prudential Financial announced Wednesday that it is exiting the long-term care insurance business.
Medicare's fee-for-service error rate for fiscal 2010 would have fallen if compliance contractors had successfully obtained better claims documentation, a federal report found.
February 10, 2012
Criminal background checks have not been found to significantly limit the quantity or quality of candidates for nursing home jobs, a top nursing home advocate says. A recent government survey of nursing home administrators paints an accurate picture of what once was forecast as a contentious issues, LeadingAge Director of Advocacy Information Barbara Gay told McKnight's Wednesday.
February 07, 2012
As required by the Affordable Care Act, the National Quality Forum convened the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) to develop a coordinated performance measurement approach across PAC and LTC settings.
About 500 Catholic nursing homes in the United States will be affected by a regulation requiring employer health insurance plans to cover contraceptive services.
January 26, 2012
In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Assisted Living Federation of America said it was "dismayed to see the lack of acknowledgment of the role assisted living has in caring for individuals with Alzheimer's disease," in the HHS taskforce plan released Jan. 9.
A panel of Alzheimer's experts is kicking off a two-day meeting in Washington today to formalize an Obama administration goal of developing effective ways to treat and prevent Alzheimer's by 2025.
January 06, 2012
The Department of Health and Human Services announced new standards Thursday that it said would streamline the electronic health claims process and save providers and government health plans $4.5 billion in administrative costs.
April 15, 2011
In a 260-167 vote Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the FY 2011 budget, which President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) brokered last week. The budget passed with bipartisan support.
Medicaid cost-cutting strategies the Department of Health and Human Services has suggested to states will not be enough to close $175 billion in cumulative budget gaps—and that's the way it should be. And that's according to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, based on remarks she made Friday.
March 22, 2011
The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday rolled out its "National Strategy for Quality Improvements in Health Care," a "first-ever" plan to guide quality improvement measures at local, state and national levels. On Thursday, the 5th Annual McKnight's Online Expo will feature a webcast discussing changing quality improvement initiatives.
December 17, 2010
President Obama this week signed a measure that will extend the therapy caps exceptions process through 2011, restore the implementation date of RUG-IV to 2010 and delay a Medicare payment cut to doctors.
The Department of Health and Human Services Monday hosted the National Summit on Health Care Quality and Value in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma recently ruled that a federal regulation capping Medicare payments for hospice care providers is invalid. That echoes a Texas district court ruling handed down earlier this year.
Some states will receive additional funding for insurance information programs for seniors after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services terminated a federal contract with Fox Insurance Company.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has disclosed an award of $900,000 for the first-ever national resource center to assist gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender seniors in planning for their long-term care needs.
September 04, 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services over the years has kept hidden from nursing homes and hospitals a database of nurses and other healthcare workers who have been disciplined by state licensing boards, according to a radio news outlet.
