Extendicare Inc., which operates more than 240 senior care centers, will be splitting up its U.S. and Canadian businesses, the company announced Thursday.
Post-acute care was the fastest growing major healthcare spending category for government programs between 1994-2009, according to recently released research. The results support large-scale bundled payments as a way to control costs, the researchers argued.
Post-acute care providers should be considering creative joint ventures with hospitals to best take advantage of evolving healthcare delivery and payment systems, healthcare finance and legal experts said Wednesday in an Avalere Health webcast.
February 01, 2013
Time is a valuable and limited resource in long-term care. Caregivers often scramble to meet the varying needs of their residents and struggle to balance those duties against equally time-consuming regulatory requirements.
February 01, 2013
Nursing facilities have always faced an array of obligations in order to provide services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, which can sometimes seem burdensome in comparison with other providers. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as the healthcare reform law, is yet another example of how nursing facilities remain a target - the notable new obligation is the mandatory compliance program requirement. Adoption and implementation of compliance programs has previously been voluntary, although encouraged.
February 01, 2013
Strong leadership is a vital ingredient to any successful organizational or system change. Increased consumer demands, strategic positioning and partnerships as well as an increased push towards community-based care are forcing post-acute leaders to serve as the catalyst for change.
January 18, 2013
There are likely to be notable gaps in Medicaid coverage through the nation when major parts of the Affordable Care Act go into effect on the first day of 2014, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study released Wednesday.
November 30, 2012
EMRs are expected to become the norm for healthcare providers in the future. But in the infancy of their use, they lack oversight and safeguards, a new report says.
November 20, 2012
A medical device excise tax scheduled to hit Jan. 1 is causing uncertainty among manufacturers and providers, a healthcare expert said Monday.
Legal experts say the Affordable Care Act's maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirement — which prohibits states from tightening Medicaid eligibility — remains vulnerable to legal challenges.
June 26, 2012
Even if the Supreme Court repeals the Affordable Care Act, its early reforms have already delivered promising benefits, according to former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D.
May 23, 2012
Healthcare reform efforts targeted at reducing hospital readmissions are here to stay, experts told participants in a McKnight's webcast Tuesday.
April 23, 2012
The Supreme Court may be two months away from announcing whether President Barack Obama's health care law is legal. But court watchers are already speculating on what will happen if the measure is overturned.
April 04, 2012
In the wake of healthcare reform, accountable care organizations continue to emerge as an increasingly likely care delivery option. The Healthcare Executive's Guide to ACO Strategy helps operators better prepare for this model. The book examines how ACOs have emerged. Several chapters also examine specific strategies operators can use to attract and retain new partners.
March 30, 2012
I'm not sure why so much hand wringing is taking place over the Supreme Court's future decision about Obamacare. For as they like to say in Chicago, the fix is in.
The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that it will decide whether or not to hear challenges to the Affordable Care Act in a private conference on Nov. 10.
Providers should be avidly trying to reduce rehospitalization rates as a measure of quality, according to an American Health Care Association executive.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) announced Monday on Facebook and Twitter that he is running for president in 2012 as a Republican, challenging President Barack Obama. This makes him the most recognizable Republican to officially enter the race.
March 31, 2011
With Congressional Democrats and Republicans failing to reach an agreement on proposed federal funding cuts—including possible reductions to healthcare reform and entitlements—analysts are predicting a government shutdown by April 9 unless a deal is reached.
March 30, 2011
State Medicaid programs spent $329 million more than necessary by allowing certain prescriptions for brand-name drugs to be filled instead of generics in 2009, a conservative think tank said this week.
January 21, 2011
Hope you have a pencil handy with your scorecard at home. One with a good eraser.
January 06, 2011
The Obama administration has opted to remove any mention of end-of-life care planning from a Medicare regulation that took effect at the beginning of the year, The New York Times reported.
January 03, 2011
A number of key healthcare reform provisions affecting the long-term care industry began Jan. 1, right before the new session of Congress comes back to Washington, according to The Hill.
Individuals aged 50-64—especially people in that age group experiencing long-term unemployment—stand to benefit the most from the healthcare reform law, according to a new study.
A Virginia federal judge Monday ruled that the "individual mandate" aspect of the healthcare reform law violates the Constitution. It is the first such ruling among trial courts.
Some good news—and just in time for the holidays. Nursing home providers can ring in 2011 knowing that residents will not be denied Medicare Part B outpatient therapy and the RUG-IV system won't change.
December 01, 2010
The Senate failed to muster the votes Monday to repeal an unpopular tax reporting mandate that was passed to help finance the healthcare reform law.
November 29, 2010
An Ohio federal judge recently allowed a lawsuit that challenges the insurance mandate of the healthcare reform law to proceed to trial.
Dr. Donald Berwick of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may not have said enough to satisfy some members of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, but he arguably presented some pretty defined views on healthcare.
November 12, 2010
Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, likely will field questions about healthcare reform when he testifies before the Senate Finance Committee next week.
