Attendees at the next McKnight's Super Tuesday webcast will receive a 2012 regulatory update delivered by well-known expert Leah Klusch, RN, BSN, FACHCA. The executive director of the Alliance Training Center, Klusch will offer the latest insight and advice on numerous regulatory matters on which providers must remain current. The event begins at 1 p.m. (Eastern Time). An outgrowth of the annual McKnight's Online Expo, the webinar will be moderated by Executive Editor John O'Connor. Included will be a discussion of the year's top regulatory developments and how they are likely to affect operators. A live Q&A session will conclude the one-hour event.
February 21, 2012
The Compliance Store recently revamped its website. Improvements include easier navigation, tab restructuring, site videos, and additional customer-friendly features. Compliance Store staff research more than 60 regulatory/government websites each day in order to compile regulatory and policy updates.
November 01, 2011
What happens when a government and society create an evil enemy of the state? They begin by calling them monsters, a drain on society that is guilty of heinous crimes, and they use the legal system and media to prosecute them publicly without due process. You have all seen the headlines about nursing homes. The TRUTH never seems to matter, only the synthetic story.
May 27, 2009
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is a legislative entity whose purpose is to advise Congress on matters of Medicare reimbursement rates and coverage policies. Now, one senator has introduced legislation that would transfer the agency to the executive branch and give it more political muscle.
Major issues of the day, plus the start of a new mentoring program, will grab the spotlight at the 43rd annual convocation and exposition of the American College of Health Care Administrators this weekend and early next week. Administrators and other long-term care leaders will seek answers about the federal government's new Five-Star rating system, possible Obama administration policies and legislative hurdles at the event, which runs through Tuesday in Providence, RI. Dr. Vincent Mor, chairman of the Department of Community Health at Brown University's school of medicine, headlines as keynote speaker. Dr. Douglas Olson will introduce ACHCA's new mentoring program, through the Academy of Long Term Care Leadership and Development.
Nursing home representatives and healthcare groups continued their attacks against a proposed FY 2010 $1.05 billion Medicare reduction on Tuesday with the release of a report indicating the cuts could carry additional billions of dollars in unintended costs and consequences for both patients and providers.
May 04, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set off a backlash from nursing home operators late Friday afternoon when it proposed "adjustments" that would cut Medicare payments by $1.05 billion in fiscal 2010. The 3.3% reduction will "largely" be offset by a 2.1% market basket increase, officials said.
April 20, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday released the timeline for MDS 3.0. This comes one week after the agency published a timeline and then pulled it off the site.
Eleven F-tags with revisions related to the quality of life and environment of nursing home residents will be available June 17.
April 13, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week posted on its Web site a new schedule for the planned October 2010 rollout of the new MDS 3.0. But the agency quickly removed it the same day.
March 30, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday announced a new, four-state demonstration project to test whether cash incentives will help improve quality and efficiency in nursing homes.
March 25, 2009
The third annual online trade show for the long-term care field starts today with a whole range of educational webcasts and virtual vendor booths. It's not too late to register for the two-day event at www.mcknights.com/expo.
March 24, 2009
Under President Obama's budget plan, Medicare and Medicaid spending would be slashed by up to $295 billion over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated.
March 23, 2009
Long-term care providers are liable to hear the name David Blumenthal, M.D., a lot in the coming months and years if all goes as planned at the Department of Health and Human Services. On Friday, HHS named Blumenthal the new national coordinator for health information technology.
March 16, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has completed a guide for providers who want to employ dining assistants in their facilities. After a drawn out battle, CMS agreed five years ago to allow the use of paid feeding assistants--provided they achieve a certain level of training and have the approval of the state.
Federal health officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services say they are considering tweaking their new Five-Star nursing home ranking system, but altering the way staffing is graded will not happen in the near future.
President Obama officially nominated Kathleen Sebelius, the democratic governor of Kansas, for the job of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday. Sebelius had been considered the front-runner after former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle bowed out after questions arose about personal tax issues.
March 01, 2009
A proposal that would require facilities through-out the state to prominently show their new federal star ratings has received pushback from nursing homes.
March 01, 2009
Sherrie Dornberger, RNC, CDONA, FACDONA President, NADONA
A federal appeals court has ruled against an Indiana nursing home, which successfully contested 16 of 17 Medicaid-participation and state licensing violations. The court did not find that state health department officials had issued citations out of malice.
The state of New York is urging the Obama administration to overturn a rule that denies couples receiving home care the same financial rights as those in nursing homes.
December 19, 2008
Nonprofit nursing homes provide a higher quality of care than for-profit facilities, according to an analysis by USA Today of the first ratings of nursing homes by the government's five-star rating system.
December 18, 2008
The head of one provider organization reacted negatively Wednesday to the way the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has handled the launch of a new five-star rating system for nursing homes. The program is scheduled to launch today.
The fourth annual Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services healthcare provider satisfaction survey is on its way, the agency announced Tuesday.
December 12, 2008
Nursing home operators on Monday will begin receiving advance notice of their first ratings in federal regulators' new "five-star" system, officials said during a conference call Thursday.
December 10, 2008
A single-shot pistol designed for seniors and those with disabilities does not qualify as a medical device, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday. That ended speculation that Medicare might cover it.
December 08, 2008
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) may recommend to Congress that skilled nursing facilities not receive a Medicare payment update in fiscal year 2010.
November 25, 2008
The pending "five-star" nursing home rating system should be delayed because it would not accurately reflect the quality of the nation's nursing homes, the American Health Care Association told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently.
Medicaid directors nationwide have called for a delay in the implementation of a new coding system for health claims from 2011 to 2013.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expanding his practice of installing hidden cameras in nursing homes to include facilities in western New York, according to local news outlets.
