CMS: Nursing homes may not establish blanket no-CPR policies Nursing homes will face survey citations for facility-wide policies that prohibit cardiopulmonary resuscitation for residents, according to a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services memorandum....

On April 27, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added six new quality measures to its Nursing Home Compare website. The six new quality measures are the largest addition of quality measures to the Nursing Home Compare website since 2003, and...

The Department of Justice announced plans Wednesday to create 10 regional task forces that will target nursing homes that provide “grossly substandard” care. The task forces, launched as part of the DOJ's Elder Justice Initiative, will include members from U.S....

In recent years, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Inspector General and other state and federal agencies have increasingly and aggressively investigated health care providers for violations of the False...

Social media is one of the fastest growing tools businesses use to employ marketing tactics in a timely and cost effective manner. It has the power to propel a company ahead of competitors, and into a thriving market position. On the flip-side, social media also has...

One of the primary goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is to make insurance available to as many consumers are possible. Now, as the law gears up toward full implementation in 2014, states are grappling with how to balance...

New Year, New Guidance: Virginia Office of Licensure and Certification Releases New Guidance on Transfer and Discharge Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities The Virginia OLC has released a guidance document entitled “Resident Transfer or Discharge” effective...

Crystal Ball Perspective: Will Healthcare Reform be Repealed if Romney Wins the Presidential Election? by McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 8/16/2012 DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all...

Massachusetts Health Care Cost Bill Includes Restrictions on Mandatory Overtime For Nurses and the Use of Government Funds to Persuade Employees to Support or Oppose Unionization On July 31, 2012, the Massachusetts House and Senate approved Senate Bill 2400, "An Act...

ProPublica Introduces “Nursing Home Inspect” Database ProPublica, an independent newsroom that produces investigative journalism, published an article entitled “What We Found Using Nursing Home Inspect.” The article introduced an interactive and searchable database of...

Third Circuit Designates Case Involving Skilled Nursing Facility’s Incident Reports as Precedential On August 14, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ordered that its February 2, 2011 decision in the case of the Jewish Home of Eastern PA v. Centers...

On August 2, 2012, CMS issued a notice setting out FY 2013 Medicare prospective payment rates for services provided by inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs).  The updated rates will apply to discharges from IPFs on or after October 1, 2012, and will remain in effect...

Supreme Court Decision on Health Reform: Analysis and Implications for the Future Authored by Stephanie A. Kennan, Brian J. Looser, James B. Riley, Vincent A. Dongarra, and R. Brent Rawlings. On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion...

Conventional wisdom dictates that an election year typically leads to a rule making slowdown among the federal agencies that regulate the workplace.  However, in the last few months, the National Labor Relations Board has challenged that conventional wisdom by seeking...

Supreme Court Upholds Challenged Health Care Reform Provisions By: Kelly S. Kuglitsch The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion yesterday upholding the constitutionality of both the so-called individual mandate and the expansion of Medicaid under the Patient Protection...

Healthcare reform efforts targeted at reducing hospital readmissions are here to stay, experts told participants in a McKnight's webcast Tuesday. Partnerships between long-term care facilities and acute-care providers - as encouraged by accountable care organizations,...

Nursing Home Antipsychotic Legislation Set Aside As reported last week, on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, Sens. Herb Kohl (D-WI), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) proposed legislation that, if passed, would have heightened regulations in nursing homes...

OIG UPDATES LIST OF EXCLUDED INDIVIDUALS/ENTITIES On April 12, 2012, the Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") notified that its List of Excluded Individuals/Entities ("LEIE") has been updated.  The updated list reflects all OIG exclusion and restatement actions up...

CMS Announces Reversal of Independent Pharmacist Regulations for SNFs October's controversial proposal by CMS that required nursing homes to hire independent pharmacists to oversee residents' medication plan regimens, was reversed by Federal regulators Monday....

Long Term Care Facilities Must Post a Notice Informing Employees of their Rights to Organize The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently determined that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could require employers, to include long term care...

GRANT MONEY HELPS SENIORS REMAIN IN THEIR HOMES  On March 2, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that New Hampshire will be the first state to receive new Medicaid grant money provided through the Affordable Care Act’s Balancing...