CMS Direct Surveyors to Look for Violations Related to Photographs and Audio/Video Recordings by...
CMS issued a letter to State Survey Agencies on August 5, 2016 in response to recent media reports highlighting occurrences of nursing home staff taking unauthorized photographs or video recordings of residents, sometimes in...
SNF Quality Reporting Program National Call
In July, CMS held a national provider call to discuss the reporting requirements for the new Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP), effective October 1, 2016. The slide presentation, audio recording and...
CMS Training on SNF Quality Reporting Program
CMS is hosting a 1-day training event on the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP). This event will be held in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. The objective is to...
IMPACT Act National Call Transcript
In July, CMS held a national provider call on Quality Measures and the IMPACT Act. The audio recording and transcript are now available. The call discussed key quality measures related to the Improving Medicare...
HCBS Settings Rule: Consumer Survey
As part of the assessment process in the state plan to implement the federal HCBS settings rule, KDADS sent out a consumer survey on August 1, 2016. The survey is meant to confirm the...
NQF Releases Final Interim Report on HCBS Measures
The National Quality Forum Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Quality Project released their last of three interim reports, Addressing Performance Measure Gaps in Home and Community-Based Services to Support Community Living: Priorities for Measure Development.
The first...
Hospice Providers Will Receive a Medicare Payment Increase
There is some good news for hospice providers. Hospice providers will receive a 2.1% Medicare payment rate increase for CY 2017, according to a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The final...
Medicaid Training Courses in August and September
KDHE Division of Health Care Finance will once again offer Medicaid training courses in Topeka, beginning August 25th through September 29th. Each Tuesday and Thursday during that time period several of eight different courses...
CDC Releases New Flu Toolkit for Nursing Homes
The Centers for Disease Control has released a new toolkit for long-term care employers. Within this comprehensive toolkit are a number of resources intended to help long-term care facility, agency, or corporation owners and...
Bundled Payments Continue to Grow in Number and Scope
On July 25, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed three new models that continue the trend of episodic payment demonstrations for Medicare reimbursement. The three models are two new cardiac...
New Remedies Procedures for Nursing Homes to Take Effect
CMS posted a new survey and certification letter outlining new procedures for survey enforcement penalties, which will take effect on September 1st. The CMS regional office will now automatically impose a remedy, with no...
FY 2017 Payment and Policy Changes for Medicare Skilled Nursing Facilities
CMS will post the final rule on Friday, August 5th outlining a payment increase for Medicare certified nursing homes, and policy changes related to quality reporting under the IMPACT Act. CMS projects that aggregate...