The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa and prompted concerns among scientists and global public health officials because it carries an unusually high number of mutations. The World Health Organization has called Omicron a "variant of concern". Cases have been identified in 20 countries so far, including the United...
A new study from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators published in JAMA Health Forum suggests quality of care in long-term care facilities declined when private equity firms took over the facilities.
According to Skilled Nursing News, the study found private equity acquisition of nursing homes to be tied to increases in emergency...CMS Rules
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its guidance for nursing home visitations during the COVID-19 pandemic this week. Although the guidance relaxes previous regulations, the agency notes its concern for the vaccination rates of nursing home employees. Unfortunately, unlike most other areas of the medical...National News
Nursing home operators were handed a major setback in their proceedings against hundreds of negligence and wrongful death lawsuits related to COVID-19 last Wednesday when the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia affirmed a lower court ruling. The appellate court ruled that cases against two New Jersey facilities should...National News
Insurance premium increases, steadily declining occupancy rates, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have ravaged nursing homes across the country, leading to an estimated $94 billion shortfall by the end of 2021. A September AHCA member survey also reported that 71% of Arizona LTC facilities say their workforce situation has grown much...
Medicare beneficiaries could receive post-acute care - including daily living support - at home under a new bill introduced last week. Home healthcare advocates hope the bill moves through Congress this year, but the legislation spurred severe criticism from nursing home and assisted living providers.
The new bill, known as the Choose...
Despite vaccinating most residents against COVID-19, the decline in cases and deaths in nursing homes, and the relaxation of some visitation restrictions, residents and families continue to face limitations on visitation.
In January, the Consumer Voice released a report detailing the horrific impact of lockdowns on nursing home...
There were 769 new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 894,875. There were six new deaths, the total is now 17,936. Almost 46% of Arizona residents are vaccinated against COVID-19. Only 8% of intensive care unit beds are in use by COVID-19 patients and 15% of ICU beds are available.
This...National News
It's no secret that of all the industries hard hit by COVID-19, skilled nursing and long term care were two of the hardest hit.
A study released on Tuesday by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services found that four in ten Medicare beneficiaries who lived in nursing homes last year had or likely had...
The GAO recently conducted a study which found that most nursing homes had multiple COVID-19 outbreaks and weeks of sustained transmission from May 2020 through January 2021.
The GAO analysis of data from the CDC showed that from May 2020 through January 2021, nursing homes commonly experienced multiple COVID-19 outbreaks. According...
Today the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report evaluating the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes across the United States.
It's clear that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the 1.4 million residents who live in nursing homes in America.
The GAO looked at the frequency and...
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an unfortunate reputation for skilled nursing facilities as initial results from partial data show that nursing homes were the second most deadly workplace during the ongoing health crisis.
According to Skilled Nursing News, nursing homes had 80 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees last year....
This month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an annual update on the federal government’s official understanding of health spending in the United States through 2019.
Healthcare spending, the modes in which healthcare is utilized by patients, employment for workers and costs can be broken down in...Arizona News
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has strongly encouraged nursing homes to increase their efforts in controlling COVID-19 inside facilities after the number of residents infected reached a record high, and as new deaths have started rising once again.
Arizona is close to reopening nursing homes to visitors after...Arizona News
Last Thursday, CMS released the update of COVID-19 data in nursing homes and corrected their numbers for precision. The initial data release was met with concern over a number of misreported numbers for facilities across the country, as well as missing data from some facilities that submitted information close to the...Arizona News
Nursing homes this week experienced a surge of miscommunication during a spike in newly reported cases of COVID-19. Nationally and locally, organizations are trying to grapple with an influx of new information and the ramifications of an old and neglected system.
In the most recent weekly update of CMS data, more nursing homes...Arizona News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the full data of its COVID-19 survey of nursing facilities in the United States on Thursday. CMS cautioned against taking the data too literally as there was incomplete reporting from many care facilities, but did stress that there was certain information to be gleaned from...Arizona News
On Monday, CMS released federal data on COVID-19 cases in nursing homes in addition to updated accountability measures.
The full data on nursing homes is expected to drop later this week, which is crucial for public reporting since an Arizona court ruled the state does not have to publicly release which nursing homes are...Arizona News
As Arizona prepares to reopen, precautions against a second surge hinge entirely upon testing and tracking the virus in order to contain its spread. In long term care facilities specifically, testing is critical to protect the elderly and vulnerable from contracting COVID-19 and spreading it within the care facility.
On Tuesday,...Arizona News
Providers are grappling with how to provide care for a virus with a myriad of uncertainties still looming. Several states are moving to protect healthcare facilities from lawsuits related to coronavirus care, including Arizona.
The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on long-term care facilities where vulnerable populations live in...
