Skilled nursing facilities face near-term planning requirements as CMS proposed changes to facility assessment frequency, QAPI program structure, infection prevention staffing standards, and compliance and ethics program components – all areas that directly affect five-star ratings and survey outcomes.
CMS Proposes a Host of Changes to Nursing Home Requirements for Participation
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes a host of changes to the revised Medicare Requirements for Participation that it promulgated in 2016 and an extension of the implementation deadline for certain of the Phase 3 requirements for a period of one year following issuance of a final rule.
— JD Supra, August 6, 2019
Issues of staffing, quality and funding, particularly Medicaid reimbursement, were addressed by David Grabowski, Ph.D., a professor at the Harvard Medical School and David Gifford, M.D., who heads up quality and regulatory affairs for the American Health Care Association. Answering a question from Wyden, Grabowski predicted more closings of rural nursing homes due to low Medicaid reimbursement. Nursing homes can’t afford to pay people more, and there are few people in rural areas who want these minimum-wage jobs, he told the committee.
— Association of Health Care Journalists, March 2019
House Hearing Focuses on Nursing Home Safety and Quality
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce (E&C) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled “Examining Efforts to Ensure Quality of Care and Resident Safety in Nursing Homes” to explore the roles of CMS and OIG at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) relating to the management and safety of nursing facilities
— The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, September 6, 2018. Link no longer available.
