If you’re facing the difficult decision of whether or not to place your elderly loved one in a nursing home or similar facility, you have a difficult road ahead. Realizing your aged loved one needs help you cannot provide is difficult, and beginning the search for a new home for your loved one may be daunting. There are so many factors to take into consideration when looking for a new home, and this is a decision that can’t be taken lightly. … [Read more...]
Do Lower Fines for Nursing Homes Really Mean Fewer Violations?
The Trump Administration reports that nursing homes are paying less in fines than during the Obama Administration, but is that due to fewer violations or changes Donald Trump made in the amounts that nursing homes must pay for serious violations? Since he took office, Donald Trump has heeded multiple nursing home complaints about zealous oversight, and his administration granted an 18-month moratorium from being penalized for violating eight … [Read more...]
California Nursing Homes Say “No” to Stricter Staffing Rules
Nursing homes continue to be plagued by staffing issues resulting in resident care problems across the country. This time, we’re looking at California nursing homes that are fighting stricter staffing rules because, administrators say, it’s impossible to meet the tough, new guidelines. While most states simply follow federal rules on nursing home staffing requirements, a few states choose to create their own guidelines on how many hours of … [Read more...]
Medicare Incentive Program for Nursing Homes Takes Effect
The Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program required by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), which was passed in 2014, officially took effect on October 1, 2018. The VBP program essentially provides bonuses to nursing homes that perform well and cuts funding for those that underperform. A nursing home’s performance is based on how many of their patients are admitted or re-admitted to hospitals for ailments that could have been prevented … [Read more...]
Did a Private Equity Firm Allow Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly?
You don’t have to have a Master’s in Business Administration to understand what happened the financial demise and subsequent bankruptcy at the HCR ManorCare Nursing Home in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It’s a classic case of profits before people. In this case, however, those people were and are our country’s vulnerable senior citizens placed in the care of what are supposed to be highly trained healthcare professionals. HCR ManorCare Nursing … [Read more...]