Blog

On March 11, 2016 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Survey and Certification Memo 16-11-ALL to the State Survey Agency Directors. This memo was made public to providers, and ...

With a heightened focus on the growing issues with infection, specifically the Ebola Virus, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has teamed up with the Centers for Disease Control and ...

For years, I’ve been hearing dedicated SNF Owners and Operators around the country say things like “The business is getting harder and harder,” or “I’ve never seen things quite like this.” Well, that ...

If you have or are considering entering into a bundled payment agreement then Congratulations! You are among a growing number of savvy providers who are taking the lead in the implementation of the ...

Germs and infections are constantly in the news. Norovirus, bird flu, and the Ebola virus are examples. People fear going into a care setting and getting an infection. Health care workers are tuned ...

Medicare Advantage Organization (MC) HIPPS Codes Update for SNF Encounters When No Admission Assessment Was Completed: On December 4, 2014, CMS released a memo regarding additional guidance regarding ...

The Jimmo agreement settles once and for all that Medicare coverage is available for skilled services to maintain an individual’s condition. Under the maintenance coverage standard articulated in the ...

It has become a bad routine. A new week, another data breach report in the news. The recent breach reported by Community Health Systems Inc., affected 4.5 million patients! This data breach parade ...

Effective January 1, 2014, the commonly used CPT code 92506 for evaluation of speech, language, voice, communication, and/or auditory processing will be deleted and replaced with four new, more ...

It is not uncommon for a patient in the SNF to experience a fall after having recently been discontinued from skilled Physical Therapy. Discussion often ensues around whether the patient should ...

CMS is undertaking a bold initiative to broaden quality assurance and performance improvement activities (QAPI) in nursing homes. In March 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. The ...

Providers have long struggled with items that may not be modified on the MDS 3.0 assessment. Occasionally, a typographical or data entry error will cause an assessment to be submitted with the Reason ...

Today, I want to talk about Assessment Reference Date selection or ARD Management. One of the key factors for selection of ARD is the communication between the MDS Coordinator and the therapy ...

Many times as consultants when we go into buildings the staff expresses to us that they are having difficulty treating the patients. The reason being the patient is typically in too much pain. First ...

Managing the care of the patient on a daily basis is very challenging in the SNF. Medicare Part A patients who tend to be somewhat more medically complex and sicker than some of the other patients ...