This Press Release announced CMS changes as well as an Executive Order signed on Monday, August 3, 2020. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing changes to expand telehealth permanently, consistent with the Executive Order on Improving Rural and Telehealth Access that President Trump signed today. The … Read More
Five-Star Quality Rating System: Technical Users’ Guide updated July 29, 2020
CMS posted the updated Five-Star Quality Rating System Technical Users Guide (29-pages) this past week. The updated State-Level Health Inspection Cut Point Table (4-pages) was also posted. July 2020 Revisions: Temporary Changes due to COVID-19 Staffing Rating Changes: Under the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers, CMS … Read More
COVID-19 response for nursing facilities (Version 3.3) – Texas Health and Human Services
I’m providing this guidance as another resource to help LTCFs hone their response to COVID-19. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has published this document to give nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities guidance in the event a positive COVID-19 case is associated with the facility. This 78-page guide is version … Read More
Breaking news: Fiscal year 2021 payment and policy changes for Medicare SNFs final rule issued
“On July 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule [CMS-1737-F] for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 that updates the Medicare payment rates and the value-based purchasing program for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). CMS is publishing this final rule consistent with the legal requirements to update Medicare … Read More
Nursing Home Compare quarterly refresh with SNF Quality Reporting Program data
The July 2020 Nursing Home Compare refresh (last update was July 29, 2020), including quality measure results based on SNF QRP data submitted to CMS, is now available. For this refresh SNF QRP assessment-based measures performance scores will be based upon data submitted to CMS between Q4 2018 – Q3 … Read More