Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
As economic conditions continue to create headwinds for senior living, I thought this post was timely. Bottom-line: I’m seeing lots of single site and even a number of multi-site, small scale organizations struggling. Depending on their markets and their debt load plus cash position, surviving as independents could be a real challenge over the upcoming … Read more
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
I ran across this yesterday in a publication I get called Becker’s Hospital Review. I recall seeing much of the content before and really liking it. It is from famed investor and Chair of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet. It is content from his letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders from years back, 1977 to be exact. … Read more
It seems like I have been writing a lot on staffing issues these past few months, and I have. Staffing along with the current economy, are a Hydra today (two headed serpent), negatively impacting provider financial conditions and patient care in many forms (access, outcomes, care coordination, etc.). A few months ago, I wrote a … Read more
Happy Hump Day! Another Wednesday with news too heavy to ignore. I’ll try to return to some levity and light in future Wednesday features. For a number of years, CMS has been playing with developing a staffing level mandate. The first CMS study from 20 years ago recommended a 4.1 hours per day benchmark. Recently, … Read more
Back in early June, I wrote a post on how Medicare/CMS was intending to audit 5 claims from every participating SNF in the country. The audits would be staggered and conducted by MACs (Medicare Audit Contractors). That post is available here: https://wp.me/ptUlY-AR As we are now three months into the audit process, details are emerging … Read more
Usually I try to add some “light and levity” to my Wednesday features as the content on this site is pretty heavy health policy and economics, regulatory in nature, etc. In my work, my usual Wednesday messages internally are “fun” – a bit of Hump Day humor or whimsy. By title of this post, readers … Read more
With a push to find increasing value in care delivery on the part of payers, providers in assisted living and home health are seeking to carve out a niche in what can best be described as “hospital or acute care” alternative locations. The most forward trend is occurring in home health, known as hospital-at-home care. … Read more
I spend a lot of time in rural America, primarily in the upper-Midwest (Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc.). With the pandemic, the struggling economy, high inflation, high energy costs, labor supply challenges, and rising interest rates, rural health care is struggling like never before. A story on the Fox Business website captures the plight of rural … Read more
Typically, I get the Friday Feature posts out early enough on a Friday for folk to read before a longer weekend or leaving the office early. Working today with my wife on an SNF/Hospice litigation matter got me behind but the same did form today’s Feature. My wife’s practice and our firm are seeing more … Read more