Articles and Blogs

On February 12, CMS hosted an Open Door Forum on the upcoming changes to the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star rating system.  These changes will be effective on February 20th.  Nursing facilities will be able to privately view their revised ratings by mid-morning on Friday, February 13, via their MDS portal login. The updated scoring system may... READ MORE

On August 25, 2014, CMS issued a survey transmittal regarding the need for nursing homes to complete a discharge assessment when a resident transfers from a SNF and/or NF certified bed to a non-certified bed in the same facility.  CMS issued this transmittal to reinforce to facilities that discharge assessments are critical to ensure the... READ MORE

On May 16, 2014, CMS issued a Survey and Certification Transmittal (“Transmittal”) to the state survey agency directors providing infomation on how Medicare and Medicaid certifed long-term care facilities may obtain an extension of time for the installation of automatic sprinkler sytems.  The Transmittal sets forth the procedures on how a nursing home may seek an... READ MORE

President Obama introduced his fiscal year (“FY”) 2015 budget yesterday, and there are many proposed cuts to post-acute care providers.  Some of the highlights include a number of bundled payment initiatives, a $100 co-pay for home health patients not discharged from a hospital and re-admission penalties for skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) with high hospital... READ MORE

The Creating Access to Rehabilitation for Every Senior Act of 2013 (“Bill”) was introduced this week by Representative James Renacci (R-OH) to the House.  This Bill proposes to waive the three-day qualifying stay requirement for admission to a skilled nursing facility (“SNF”) under Medicare.   READ MORE

The most recent revisions to the Resident Assessment Instrument (“RAI”) User’s Manual became effective yesterday for all assessments with an assessment date on or after October 1.  The significant portion of the revisions addresses changes to therapy coding and swallowing and nutrition.   READ MORE

Prior to the government shutdown, Representative Jim McDermott of Washington introduced a bill that would end the hospital inpatient requirement for skilled nursing facility (“SNF”) coverage.   READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Survey & Certification Memo (“S&C Letter”) to state agencies detailing the result of the governmental shutdown on long-term care providers as it relates to surveys.  As of this writing, the S&C Letter has not been published or otherwise made publicly available, and the below... READ MORE

Beginning October 1, 2013, a skilled nursing facility (“SNF”), a nursing facility (“NF”) or a dually-certified SNF/NF will be permitted to request an independent informal dispute resolution (“IIDR”) for all federal deficiencies cited on its standard or complaint survey (CMS-2567) that are subject to the imposition, collection and escrow of civil money penalties (“CMPs”)... READ MORE

The House of Representatives recently proposed legislation that would bundle payments for post-acute care services and create penalties for readmissions to Medicare-certified nursing homes. The proposed legislation would also reduce the annual market basket index for Skilled Nursing Services. READ MORE