Long-Term Care Survey Alert
CMS DIRECTS STATES ON HOW TO SPEND CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES
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Ever wonder what states do with the civil monetary penalties they collect from facilities for survey deficiencies? The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently instructed states to use such funds for any project that directly benefits facility residents, including funding an increase in ombudsman services. States should not finance loans to deficient facilities that are having financial difficulties in meeting payroll or paying vendors, CMS warns. However, states could prevent facilities' continued noncompliance by developing videos, pamphlets, or other publications to promote best practices, including the development of public service announcements related to "deficient areas" and employing consultants to provide training to deficient facilities. CMS notes, for example, that North Carolina and other states have issued grants to several nursing facilities to fund Eden Alternative projects involving pets and gardening.
Long-Term Care Survey Alert
- Survey Management:
LESSONS LEARNED FROM A SURPRISE IJ CITATION
Waterman Village in Mt. Dora, FL had no idea what was coming last September when [...] - Quality Initiative:
PILOT QUALITY INITIATIVE A STEADY RIDE FOR MOST FACILITIES
If the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' pilot Nursing Home Quality Initiative is any [...] - Quality Measures:
CMS SELECTS QUALITY MEASURES FOR NATIONAL REPORTING
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has selected chronic and post-acute quality measures for [...] - Quality Initiative:
FACILITIES GET TO PREVIEW QM SCORES BEFORE CMS POSTS THEM
While the national Nursing Home Quality Initiative has been pushed back until after the November [...] - Quality Assurance:
CMS CONTINUES QUEST FOR VALID QUALITY MEASURES
Wanted: quality measures that truly tell if a nursing facility is providing good care. The [...] - Resident Safety:
DONT LET BED SIDE RAILS BE A FAST TRACK TO DECERTIFICATION
How do surveyors view bed side rails?
As immediate jeopardy if a resident suffers a [...] - Risk Management:
JCAHO PROVIDES 6 STRATEGIES TO ENSURE BED SIDE RAIL SAFETY
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations released a sentinel event alert on Sept. [...] - Infection Control:
CMS TRAINING MAY PAVE WAY TO CRACKDOWN ON VACCINATION SHORTFALLS
Where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' training efforts go, survey citations often follow. [...] - LTC Financing:
ADD-ON DROP COULD SINK SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES, STUDY SAYS
Unless Congress acts fast, temporary Medicare payment add-ons that were first given to skilled nursing [...] - Quality Oversight:
CMS DIRECTS STATES ON HOW TO SPEND CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES
Ever wonder what states do with the civil monetary penalties they collect from facilities for [...] - Quality of Life:
MEASURING QUALITY OF LIFE FOR VISION-IMPAIRED RESIDENTS
Vision impairment and blindness reduce the quality of life for many nursing home residents, but [...] - Alzheimers Disease:
RESEARCHERS DISCOVER POSSIBLE NEW TARGET FOR ALZHEIMERS TREATMENT
What's in an enzyme? Perhaps a new target for the battle against Alzheimer's disease. Researchers [...] - Side Rail Safety Assessment