Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released public data on mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, and changes of ownership from 2016-2022 for hospitals and nursing homes enrolled in Medicare. The data includes the following: Changes of ownership have been much more common in nursing homes than hospitals over the past six years. There is also […]
For the April 2022 refresh of the Care Compare webpage, CMS will re-publish home health agency services provided data from the January 2022 refresh, according to a CMS alert March 31, 2022. This will give CMS time to correct issues in the April 2022 Provider Preview Reports that caused the provider services info to be […]
In an effort to increase transparency for families choosing nursing homes for their loved ones, CMS announced February 9th that COVID-19 booster data in nursing homes will be made publicly available. While the current data indicate that nursing home residents are getting booster shots at a rate comparable to the national average of adults over […]
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is taking comments through Jan. 25, 2022, on approaches to prevent stress and improve the mental health and well-being of health workers. Information provided, including narrative evidence, data, or anecdotes, will support nation-wide efforts to raise awareness of mental health concerns, identify best practices to prevent and […]
This year has continued to bring many of us closer to the pain, suffering and exhaustion of those experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue. There is no doubt that 2021 has been filled with additional challenges. At this point, burnout and compassion fatigue has expanded into many aspects of our lives. Even if you experienced burnout […]
For healthcare providers, having a diverse workforce is paramount to quality of care. The communities they serve contain patients from a wide array of backgrounds, races, and socioeconomic classes. Without shared similarities and cultural values among them, it’s difficult for medical professionals to establish the strong patient relationships that are needed for effective care. From […]
CMS is transitioning to a new data source for a demographic data for all home health agencies and other post-acute providers. The demographic data include such items as the provider name, provider-mailing address, provider physical address, state and ZIP code, according to a notice on February 10. Demographic data are displayed on the Provider and […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently began releasing new hospital COVID-19 data at the facility level. The data shows weekly impacts from COVID-19 on ICU and bed capacity. When announcing the new datasets last month, HHS noted that it should help local and regional collaborations. Home health industry leaders have noted that […]
CMS has issued a proposed rule that would improve electronic exchange of health care data among payers, providers, and patients and streamline processes related to prior authorization to reduce burden on providers and patients, according to a press release. Released Thursday, Dec. 10, the rule would give providers more time to focus on their patients […]
Agencies must comply with HIPAA when passing patient protected health information (PHI) back and forth. follow these eight tips to protect your patients and agency from breaches: Assess how you and your business associates transmit PHI to each other as part of your regular HIPAA risk analysis. If you uncover any vulnerabilities, resolve them. Ensure […]