Articles and Blogs

On April 8, 2021, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum entitled “Updates to Long-Term Care (LTC) Emergency Regulatory Waivers Issued in Response to COVID-19” (“Blanket Waiver Update Memo”) that announced the termination of several blanket waivers for skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) related to resident... READ MORE

On February 12, CMS hosted an Open Door Forum on the upcoming changes to the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star rating system.  These changes will be effective on February 20th.  Nursing facilities will be able to privately view their revised ratings by mid-morning on Friday, February 13, via their MDS portal login. The updated scoring system may... READ MORE

The most recent revisions to the Resident Assessment Instrument (“RAI”) User’s Manual became effective yesterday for all assessments with an assessment date on or after October 1.  The significant portion of the revisions addresses changes to therapy coding and swallowing and nutrition.   READ MORE

On August 23, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a memorandum that addressed issues arising from incomplete, inaccurate and missing Minimum Data Set (“MDS”) Discharge Assessments that adversely affect Skilled Nursing Facilities (“SNFs”) and Nursing Facilities (“NFs”).  Under 42 C.F.R. §§ 483.20(g) and (f)(1), SNFs and NFs are required to... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently released the final rule for fiscal year (“FY”) 2014 skilled nursing facility (“SNF”) prospective payment system (“PPS”) rates.  These rates will take effect October 1, the start of FY 2014.   READ MORE

On September 27, 2012, CMS issued an advance copy of the State Operations Manual (“SOM”) revisions to Appendix P of the SOM, which addresses Long-Term Care Facility survey protocol. The SOM guidance also makes changes to various survey forms resulting from the new quality measures reports. READ MORE

Effective October 1, new PPS rules for fiscal year 2012 require nursing homes to diligently review claims prior to submission.  As previously discussed, significant cuts in SNF reimbursement are aimed mostly at therapy services.   SNFs submitting claims under the previous rules can expect high rates of denials and rejections.  Even facilities billing under the new... READ MORE

CMS will host their monthly Skilled Nursing/LTC Open Door Forum on Thursday, October 20, from 2-3pm EST.  This call was originally scheduled on October 13.  The information to participate in the call is available here. The recent changes to MDS 3.0 and PPS are likely to be heavily discussed topics.    Should you have any questions, please contact: Todd Selby... READ MORE