Twofer Thursday: Staffing Litigation and a Bit More on Medicare Advantage Plans

Today’s post is a bit of a hybrid. I’m trying to keep up with a bunch of things ranging from policy to economics (Jerome Powell speech today) to some work stuff so I’m combining two things today that probably, deserve a bit more dissection, but this will do for now. Plus, I’m hopeful that tomorrow … Read more

Sr. Living, Litigation and COVID Implications

On Friday, I wrote about the explosion of COVID litigation in health care and senior living, especially that which is challenging federal immunity under the PREP Act and cases challenging insurance coverage for business interruption coverage resultant from COVID remediation policies (business closure, school closures, vaccine requirements, etc.). Today’s post is a bit more focused … Read more

Friday Feature: Sr. Living, Health Care, and COVID Litigation

Yesterday’s post was related to the beginnings of COVID, particularly the Biden Administration’s pandemic response plan. Just as Biden entered office, his administration released the response plan and the post (yesterday) included a recording of a podcast I did on the plan, COVID vaccine rollouts, etc. Coming a bit closer to full circle, the pandemic … Read more

Value-Based Care: Why it Matters, or Should, for Post-Acute Providers

Value-Based Care is kind of a vogue term, one that I encounter quite often. I also have used it when speaking or writing and know most people have no idea what it means or how it can be developed and/or applied. Value-based care is not a new concept. Medicare tried a foray into it back … Read more

SNF Industry Update

Every year, the accounting firm of Clifton Larson Allen (CLA) produces an industry trends report based on accumulated cost report data. The report provides a good snapshot of the nursing home industry, nationwide, with insights on regions and states.  The report is available here: 38th-snf-cost-comparison-and-industry-trends-report As I’ve written on numerous posts on this site, the … Read more

Twofer Tuesday: Jimmo and Staffing Mandates

Happy Hump Day eve! There is so much going on right now with the economy, government shutdown (whew, avoided that one for a bit) dynamics, election news, and health policy that it is becoming difficult to parse topics into stuff of value. Hopefully, a couple of quick updates will make room for more insightful analysis … Read more

AZ Pandemic Related Case – Watchlist Important

My firm (shared with my co-founder) H2 Healthcare, LLC does a lot of legal work, primarily forensic and litigation support. My wife (and partner), Diane Hislop, RN, is likely the foremost (or certainly, top few) clinical compliance experts in the country in terms of senior living and post-acute care. This means, as a group, we … Read more

Friday Feature: Quality and the Revenue Connection (2019 version)

I’ve written a lot over the years about understanding the unique connection between quality care and the systems to support its delivery, and revenue. Arguably, the most successful provider organizations understand that impeccable quality of care (delivery, outcomes, patient satisfaction) begets high occupancy (referrals) and preferential payer mix (quality mix). Of course, the inverse relationship … Read more

Five Quality and Compliance Tips

A major concentration within my firm, H2 Healthcare, is compliance work. My wife heads this section of the practice, and she is widely known as one of (if not THE) the foremost post-acute/senior living experts on clinical quality, compliance, and risk mitigation/risk management. Her book on reducing survey risk for SNFs is still available on … Read more

SNF Performance Update – Occupancy, etc.

No other segment of senior living/senior care got rocked as much by the pandemic as skilled nursing. Frankly, the industry had challenges from labor shortages and lagging reimbursement entering the pandemic (2020). The pandemic didn’t just accentuate these issues, it blew them up in terms of magnitude (impact) while adding supply chain issues, inflation, and … Read more