A majority of U.S. nursing homes were rewarded for safer performances regarding COVID-19 between August and September.
About $333 million began flowing to more than 10,000 nursing homes the first week of November, the Department of Health and Human Services announced. More than threefourths (77%) qualified for payment, with 76% qualifying with lower infection and mortality criteria during the measurement period.
It marked the first incentive payment of five possible scheduled under a $2 billion COVID-19 funding plan that officials announced in August.
The performance-based pay structure rewards nursing homes that keep new COVID-19 infection and mortality rates lower than the communities they serve, as analyzed against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Providers’ actions contributed to 1,200 fewer COVID-19-related nursing home deaths between August and September, officials said.
“Today’s announcement illustrates how complementing relief payments with outcome-based payments help to yield positive results in improving quality and infection control in nursing homes,” the HHS announcement said.
Providers said the program shows what investment in operators can yield.
Further, it proves that when nursing homes have sufficient personal protective equipment and testing they then “have a fighting chance to contain and defeat this horrible virus,” explained Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association.
Providers are eligible for four monthly incentive pay periods, through the end of the year, plus an overall incentive reward period that will be assessed in February.
From the December 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
