Tag: Industry Outlook

How Value Based Care Affects Healthcare Operators

Health Policy and Economics

The Impact of Value-Based Care

The practical question is not whether value-based care affects operators. It already does. The more consequential question is whether an organization recognizes the change early enough to redesign how it manages referrals, clinical performance, workforce…

CMS Withholds $1B in Medicaid Payments From CA, MN

Policy and Politics - Federal

CMS Defer $1B in Medicaid Payments to CA, MN

The report that CMS is withholding $1B in Medicaid payments from California and Minnesota is not merely another Washington-versus-state-capital political skirmish. It is a reminder that Medicaid is financed through a conditional partnership, and federal…

CMS Modernizes Nursing Home Oversight With Risk Surveys

Policy and Politics - Federal

CMS Changes SNF Surveys With New Risk Surveys

CMS is launching a streamlined review process for higher-performing nursing homes and making them easier for consumers to find on Medicare.gov. A new Quality, Safety, & Oversight memo outlines the risk-based survey process, which helps…

Health Policy and Economics

Why Rural Health Transformation Matters

Rural providers are being asked to preserve access with urban-level expectations and far thinner margins. That is the core tension any rural health transformation program must confront. For hospitals, post-acute operators, clinics, and community-based organizations…

https://rhislop3.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/life-plan-community-economics-explained-featured.webp

Life Plan/CCRC

Life Plan Community Economics Explained

A life plan community can look stable from the outside – full campus, strong reputation, long wait list history, predictable monthly fees. Then interest rates move, labor costs stay elevated, refund obligations come due, and…

Post Acute Care Compliance Checklist for 2026

Home Health

Post Acute Care Compliance Checklist for 2026

For years, and littered throughout this site, are pieces (and presentations) I have done on compliance. Some goodies are below. https://rhislop3.com/2023/09/07/five-quality-and-compliance-tips/ https://rhislop3.com/2018/11/16/the-real-impacts-of-poor-quality-inadequate-compliance-and-weak-risk-management/ https://rhislop3.com/2018/11/29/follow-up-real-impacts-of-poor-quality-and-lax-compliance/ https://rhislop3.com/2019/06/14/the-connection-between-quality-and-revenue/ The one major implication of solid (or not) compliance is the…

A Guide to Medicare Site-Neutral Payments

Health Policy and Economics

Update on Medicare Site-Neutral Payments

Earlier this year, in January, I wrote a piece on the start of site-neutral payments via a CMS final rule tied to the Outpatient PPS (OPPS). This post is a follow-up of sorts to the…

Home Health

7 Top Healthcare Policy Risks 2026

Budget math is about to collide with operating reality. When executives ask about the top healthcare policy risks 2026, they are not asking for a Washington headline recap. They are asking which policy moves could…

Health Policy and Economics

Healthcare Economics Trends 2026

The most consequential healthcare economics trends 2026 will not be driven by a single law, rate update, or election headline. They will come from the collision of four forces that now define the sector –…

Health Policy and Economics

What CMS Medicare Regulatory Relief Signals

CMS did not put out the View Rule as a routine paperwork exercise. For operators already carrying margin pressure, survey exposure, labor inflation, and reimbursement uncertainty, this request for information is a signal. It suggests CMS is…

Picture of Reg

Reg

Healthcare executive, consultant, and author covering post-acute care, senior living, and the economics behind both - for 30+ years.

The Weekly Briffing

No noise - just what changed in healthcare policy and economics, and why it matters to your operation.