Happy birthday, Medicare and Medicaid—and can we say, you don’t look a day over 50. But, the healthcare world sure is different now, compared to when you were born. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is partnering with the state of Rhode Island to try out a new model for providing person-centered care to Medicare/Medicaid dual enrollees. Read More »
Overall national healthcare spending is expected to rise by modest amounts during the decade from 2014-2024, notes a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services budget report released today. Read More »
Legislation to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their outpatient status has passed through the legislative branch without a hitch. Now, it’s off to the White House. Read More »
A new pilot program model from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will test whether hospice care and curative care should be offered simultaneously, instead of asking terminally-ill patients to choose one or the other. Read More »
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rule would require long-term care facilities to establish an antibiotic stewardship program in order to participate in Medicare. Read More »
The 400-page proposal includes new rules to reduce hospitalizations, infections and resident risks. But, opponents question the financial impacts: Feds estimate the cost would be nearly $90,000 per facility over two years. Read More »
A new directive is aimed to further reduce the risk of tuberculosis (TB) to employees working in healthcare settings, including new rules for screening and bloodwork. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wants all nursing homes and long-term care facilities to participate in health information exchange. Read More »
Medicare celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 30. Experts on aging discuss the program's history and future goals at an American Society for Aging event this past June. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a milestone change within its latest Physician Fee Schedule--a new billing code for advanced care planning services. Will it encourage more docs to talk about end-of-life choices? Read More »
In a milestone addition to its physician payment schedule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes to add a new billing code to allow for the reimbursement of advanced care planning services. Read More »
In response to requests from the provider community, CMS is releasing additional guidance that will aim to allow for flexibility in the claims auditing and quality reporting process Read More »
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration expanded its inspections to include musculoskeletal injuries related to patient or resident handling and four other risks to nurses. Read More »
A new Avalere assessment of quality measures finds many important medical conditions are not represented in Medicare's pay-for-quality programs. Read More »
After nine years of leadership in the long-term care industry, ACHCA President and CEO Marianna Grachek announces that she will be retiring next month. Read More »
Workgroups responsible for implementing the standardization of documentation codes across care settings under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act) have been busy during the past year, and SNFs may have to be ready to report under the new assessment data as early as fall 2016, noted panel presenters at this week's Long-Term and Post-Acute Care Health IT Summit in Baltimore. Read More »
