Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
As the economy remains “challenging” and providers are finding rising capital costs and rising staffing costs, survival mode is where many are operating. For any hospital, SNF, Home Health Agency, or Hospice, labor (wages and benefits) is typically about 60% of the expense budget. With direct care staff in short supply in nearly every market … Read more
I’ve been rather busy lately and my wife’s side of the practice (compliance, litigation), very much so. Suffice to say, as the two prime partners and owners of H2 healthcare, we work collaboratively and support each other. In other words, her “busy” is mine too and vice-versa. So today, I’m setting aside for catch-up and … Read more
A practice concentration within my business, H2 Healthcare, LLC, belongs to my wife who is also, the firm’s Senior Partner and co-founder and co-owner. The practice area is compliance and a strong focus within, is litigation support/expert witness/forensic nursing. My wife is frankly, one of the foremost clinical compliance (nursing) experts in the nation, supporting … Read more
SNFs got a little early Christmas present yesterday when CMS announced its Final Rule (PPS) for Fiscal Year 2024 (begins October 1, 2023). Instead of a 3.7% increase as proposed in the initial rule, CMS finalized a 4% increase (plus an additional 0.3%). Back in April, I wrote about the proposed rule. That post is … Read more
Lately I’ve written a fair amount (multiple articles) regarding the economic conditions in senior living/post-acute care. The current economic headwinds of rising capital costs/interest rates, labor scarcity, rising costs due to labor scarcity and commodity inflation have caused providers to rethink many operating assumptions. Margins have eroded and often, decisions about additional volume via admissions, … Read more
Yesterday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by .25 basis points (one quarter of on percent). The effective rate is now 5.25 to 5.50 percent. This is highest Fed Funds rate in 22 years. For the past multiple weeks, I have been writing on how the rate progress has impacted (negatively), seniors housing. … Read more
In a report provided by Ziegler investment bank, M&A activity in the non-profit industry segment is “up” for the first half of the year, near record levels. The report suggests the pace will continue into the second half. Compare this data to report from Levin that deal activity was down significantly in the first quarter … Read more
Organizational expansion is truly a tale of two options (primarily): add capacity organically (build or start from scratch) or acquire an existing business. Both have pluses and minuses, but when it comes to scale on a more rapid basis and movement into a new market area, acquisition tends to make more sense versus an organic … Read more
In its latest update, the Altarum Health Sector Economic Indicators, provided some interesting information on health care spending, job growth, and pricing. The data was released yesterday and is accessible here: https://altarum.org/publications/june-2023-health-sector-economic-indicators-briefs Some key data points from the report are as follows. The data is useful in forecasting, budgeting, and planning, especially in terms of … Read more
Just a tick early as mid-year officially won’t occur until this Saturday with the second quarter officially ending, Friday. This said, not much is likely to change the current status between now and Friday or for that matter, any time soon. The first half of 2023 can be summed up through a look at two … Read more