CMS forum provides noteworthy updates about HEART and quality reporting training

To address concerns raised during pilot testing for its planned comprehensive hospice assessment tool, CMS has decided to delay further testing phases. But CMS is working diligently to retool the Hospice Evaluation and Assessment Reporting Tool (HEART) and plans to hold quarterly special open door forums beginning in September in an attempt to solicit public comments.

New York Times reports on staffing shortage at ‘ghost town’ nursing homes

On July 7, 2018, The New York Times, in conjunction with Kaiser Health News, published a news article detailing the new payroll-based journal Medicare reporting system. The article highlights that the new system shows low staffing levels at many nursing homes, and profiles patients at one New York nursing home who detail “ghost town” nursing homes, particularly on weekends.

SNFs found to be out of compliance with QRP requirements will receive letter from CMS

CMS is providing notifications to facilities that were determined to be out of compliance with Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) requirements for CY 2017, which will affect their FY 2019 Annual Payment Update (APU). Non-compliance notifications were mailed by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and have been placed into facilities’ CASPER folders in QIES on July 9, 2018.

From Hospital to Home: Elder Care Investments by 2020

Under pressure to curb healthcare spending, providers plan to move away from traditional models like Skilled Nursing and inpatient rehab facilities and towards those that promote care outside the hospital or institutional setting, BDO’s Candid Conversations on Elder Care reveals.

The study (with NEJM Catalyst) asks U.S. executives, clinical leaders and clinicians at nearly 500 healthcare organizations which areas they’ll invest in most by 2020—and how they’ll look to tech—to prepare for the growth of the aging U.S. population.

Senior housing occupancy rate down

The occupancy rate for seniors housing across the nation continues to decline, according to a July 12 press release from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). a non-profit organization that provides data and analytics on the sector.