Our long-term care news is continually updated from dozens of sources around our industry and the web.
Skilled Nursing News (01/06/2023) – As nursing home operators find themselves in the middle of a tripledemic – with Covid-19 cases, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the flu on the rise during winter months – concerted efforts to get staff and residents boosted against Covid have fallen by the wayside.
And nursing home operators dealing with staffing shortages and burnout, and rising costs related to inflation, say that they need more support to convince residents and staff to get the latest boosters. Full story »
McKnights (01/06/2023) – The Food and Drug Administration has approved the experimental Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb) for clinical use in patients with early disease.
Leqembi is a monoclonal antibody that targets the brain’s amyloid plaques, which are widely thought to contribute to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Made by Eisai and Biogen, it is recommended for patients in the early stages of dementia and is delivered using repeat infusions. The FDA’s decision was based on the results of clinical trial data showing a reduction in brain amyloid burden for participants with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia who took Leqembi. The data also showed patients had “moderately” less decline, by 27%, in measures of cognition and function over an 18-month period. Full story »
McKnights (01/09/2023) – Nursing homes and other aging services providers across the US can now access free COVID-19 test kits through an expanded partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services and LeadingAge.
The nonprofit aging services organization initially launched the service Dec. 22, designing it to assist providers of affordable seniors housing amid a surge of COVID and other respiratory viruses and the holiday season. Full story »
Skilled Nursing News (01/03/2023) – Over the last two years, skilled nursing providers have faced a pandemic and a labor crisis. As 2023 dawns, leaders across the industry are taking stock of their changed organizations and a reshaped business environment, and are preparing to execute strategies formulated in the COVID crucible.
As Signature HealthCARE CEO Joe Steier puts it: “Every quality health care operator needs to write a new playbook for skilled nursing.” Full story »
Skilled Nursing News (01/03/2023) – The march toward a new Minimum Data Set (MDS) protocol continues, with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) releasing the full complement of draft item sets.
With this release on Dec. 23, CMS made good on a previous promise to get these complete draft item sets out in 2022. The agency plans to release the final version of MDS items sets in early 2023. MDS 3.0 v1.18.11 is slated to take effect on Oct. 1, 2023. Full story »
McKnights (01/04/2023) – Half of all nursing home providers and building leaders (49.8%) surveyed by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News said they would have to close in part or in full if federal regulators adopt a 4.1-hour nurse staffing mandate in 2023.
Among facility owners, C-suite executives and administrators, the predicted closure threat rose to 54.4%. Nearly 41% of that group also said they would have to hire more agency staff if that rigorous mandate is imposed. Full story »
Skilled Nursing News (12/21/2022) – This year, Skilled Nursing News held a magnifying glass to various roles within the nursing home as the sector continues to evolve – and receive mandated change from federal and state entities.
All the while, skilled nursing staff shortages fuel a reshaping of roles to take on more responsibilities and rely more on technology to fill the gaps.
Our stories examined positions from top executive roles to certified nursing assistants (CNAs), the backbone of the direct care workforce. Full story »
McKnights (12/19/2022) – A state-by-state comparison of pay-rate disparities between agency nurses and their full-time counterparts is feeding the fury that disgruntled long-term care operators and other providers have felt during the pandemic.
Previously, largely anecdotal accounts of nursing agencies’ soaring pay rates and predatory recruiting tactics have fed providers’ anger. Now, they can see just how bad conditions are, and how differences exist among states. Full story »