Friday Feature: The Economic Realities

For the past two years, as the pandemic emergency waned, and the U.S. and the rest of the world moved back to a more normalized business and social condition, the fallouts of a mish-mashed pandemic policy (federal, states, local) became evident. School closures with virtual learning impacted kids and their education performance (falling performance on … Read more

Top 5 Staff Retention Tips for a Tough Labor Market

Recently, I wrote a post on recruitment in a tough labor market. Suffice to say, I have not in my three decades plus career, seen a tougher labor market for clinical staff (all staff in many regards). COVID had a lot to do with the shifting supply of labor, but I’ll offer that health policies … Read more

SNFs: 3 Overnight Stay Requirement Returning

As the Public Health Emergency (COVID) ends, healthcare providers will revisit pre-pandemic policies as a slew of waivers expire. One waiver particularly impactful to hospitals and SNFs is the requirement of a 3 Overnight (3 Day Stay) for a patient to receive Part A Medicare benefits in a SNF. Recall, the rule pre-pandemic was that … Read more

SNFs and HHAs: A Common, Concerning Trend

Current economic and government policy conditions have converged to create a concerning trend for home health and SNF providers. The trend for both segments is loosely known as “referral rejection”. The number of referrals that both provider types are rejecting is up considerably since the start of the pandemic and for now, I see no … Read more

In-Depth: CCRCs First Quarter 2023

The smallest distinct segment of senior housing is Life Plan communities or CCRCs. Assisted Living, Independent Living and Skilled nursing, in each segment, dwarf the number of CCRCs yet, CCRC popularity remains and continues to grow, if ever so slowly. CCRCs run a gamut between large and small, entry fee to rental, with/without SNFs yet … Read more

Friday Feature: The Supreme Court and Medicaid Beneficiary Rights to Sue

TGIF! In a little known but important case argued in November of 2022, the family of a Medicaid nursing home resident in Indiana began a suit against a publicly owned nursing home (originally 2016), Valparaiso Care and Rehabilitation. The nursing home is operated by the Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County. The corporation’s board … Read more

Top 5 Tips for Recruiting in a Tough Labor Market

I’ve done a number of presentations on the staffing challenges facing providers and how, certain strategies work and others don’t in terms of recruitment and retention. Over my 30 plus years in the industry, I’ve had reasonable (ok, very good) success in building and retaining high-performing teams, including direct care staff. I’ve been fortunate to … Read more

Executive Order – Staffing and Medicare Implications Update

Yesterday I wrote a post regarding a significant (and large) Executive Order coming via the Biden Administration concerning long-term care, child care, staffing in nursing homes, expanded supports under Medicaid for long-term care and childcare, etc. The post is here: https://wp.me/ptUlY-uM . While I have yet to obtain the text of the order, I have … Read more