During the height of the pandemic, annual surveys of skilled nursing facilities understandably skidded to a stop. Flash forward to August 2020, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services directed...
‘Keep it simple’ is just not in our nature
By
Steven Littlehale
Jun 28, 2021
I asked all the leadership at New Choice Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to bring me their department-specific resident assessment tools. They were to leave them on my desk by 5 p.m. When I returned...
It’s time to be a team player and place public safety first
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Jun 18, 2021
Recent legislative activity in Ohio just highlights the public’s and the government’s fickle view of long-term care in our country.
Biden Medicare regulations favor hospitals over skilled nursing facilities
By
Lisa Grabert
Jun 02, 2021
On an annual basis, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updates various payment systems within the Traditional (fee-for-service) Medicare program. This regulatory season is more entertaining than...
The ABCs of documenting CPT
By
Renee Kinder
May 06, 2021
It’s that time of year again when the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel meets with the task of ensuring its codes remain up to date.
Provider payment adjustments coming — this time without the indictments
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 30, 2021
Could it be that federal regulators and the caregivers they oversee are becoming more civil to one another?
Spring cleaning 2021: Will your rehab team pass the white-glove review?
By
Renee Kinder
Apr 22, 2021
Spring is in the air. Time to open the doors, let some fresh air in, and clean above, under and between every surface in our homes. Spring is a season that allows my obsessive cleaning habits to become...
The coming crackdown: COVID-19 and beyond
By
Karen Christian
Matthew Hittle
Apr 21, 2021
For more than a year, America’s nursing homes have been besieged by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has tragically claimed the lives of more than 130,000 residents and 1,600 staff. While America’s nursing...
Retaliation, recovery and ‘quasi’ justice featured in nursing home operator’s book
By
Brook Chambery
Apr 16, 2021
Many long-time McKnight’s readers will remember Beechwood Restorative Care Center and its $25 million victory against the state of New York. The settlement ended a 13-year war and one of the most egregious...
Is the doctor in? Improve nursing homes with one easy stroke
By
Kenneth Lehmann
Apr 14, 2021
Many nursing home COVID-19 patients would have benefitted from daily, reimbursed-for physician visits in their skilled nursing facilities, but they were not entitled to them. With an epic crisis...