Driving efficiency to your workforce and revenue recovery process is critical to SNF survival in 2022. In our March 22 webinar, we'll discuss five ways providers are supercharging their claims cycle to ensure success.

Previously, you may have gotten away with slow claims reimbursement, but COVID is making it all the more essential for revenue to flow in. Why?

• Costs are higher – you must recover all of the revenue you've earned.

• Staff is harder to find and keep – you must use staff efficiently and provide tools to make their jobs easier.

• Care is shifting toward home and value-based care – you must have the revenue and flexibility to shift your strategy.

With the Biden Administration's announcement of increased focus on nursing homes and CMS' mandate on staffing and higher penalties, you can't afford to leave money on the table. So, save a seat, and let us show why Every Dollar, Every Day matters for every SNF.

On March 4, AHCA/NCAL held a Post-State of the Union call as a response to President Biden’s proposals for nursing homes. Here's the replay link, as well as our summary of what was discussed.

In general, don't panic! 

• Major reforms often fail in Congress
• Rulemaking takes time
• Some of the proposals require Congressional action
• AHCA/NCAL is working on a response plan

Proposed for Nursing Homes

Quality Measures

• Phase-out rooms with 3 or more beds
• Reduce inappropriate use of antipsychotics
• SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) includes more staffing and resident experience measures

Readiness for Pandemics

• Continue to support COVID testing
• Continue to support vaccine efforts
• Review on-site infection control rules and increase the standards
• Review emergency preparedness rules to improve readiness

Proposed for CMS

Transparency

• Create a new database of building owners and operators
• Make Nursing Home Compare easier to understand
• Examine the role of REITS and private equity

 Jobs

• Make nurse aide training cheaper
• Support state training programs
• Work with Dept. of Labor to launch a national campaign for recruiting, training, retaining, and transitioning workers to long-term care.

Proposed Oversight

• Add $500 million for survey inspections
• Change Special Focus Facility Program
• Increase civil fines (CMP) to $1million
• Consider CMPs on a per diem basis
• Congress to develop standards for chain owner participation in Medicare/Medicaid
• Congress to give CMS more authority to validate data and enforce incorrect reporting

AHCA/NCAL Plan of Response

• Determine what AHCA/NCAL can support
• Determine which proposalsAHCA/NCAL might make more acceptable
• Try to kill proposals AHCA/NCAL can’t modify or support
• Question Minimum Staffing Study
  • Where can nursing homes find the workers?
  • What’s their implementation timeline?
  • What are the penalties for non-compliance?

As you may have seen this week, the AHCA/NCAL action plan is already underway. AHCA/NCAL contacted the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to outline their position and request a meeting.

Each week our security team tracks threats, vulnerabilities, and patches announced by leading IT experts and vendors to ensure we prioritize, address, and communicate them to our managed IT services clients.

Below you'll find our monthly recap of all events. If you're not a client, make sure your team knows about these security events, as well as future ones. Just click below to sign up. 

High Impact

Nothing new in the high category was reported in February. If you missed last month's report, see the January Security Threats Summary.

Medium Impact

Low Impact

No Impact to Our Clients/FYI

As part of our primeCLOUD services suite, we partner with leading IT vendors to offer security services like ransomware protection, phishing training, multi-factor authorization (MFA), data backup/recovery, and more.

If you're not confident your organization is on top of security threats, vulnerabilities, and patches, it may be time to conduct a cyber security audit.

Or better, get in touch and let us walk you through critical items for your security checklist.

It's a new year with new challenges on the horizon. Do you want to know how fellow senior housing and care professionals are feeling?

Senior Housing News (SHN) conducted an online poll among 350 subscribers between Nov. 12, 2021, and Dec. 9, 2021, and these are the top takeaways.

• 87% are somewhat/very positive outlook on the health of the senior housing industry in 2022.
• +78% have strong confidence in restoring pre-COVID occupancy levels between 2H2022 and 2023.
• Majority say staffing is the greatest non-COVID-related challenge and most significant expense for 2022.
• Majority say the staffing challenge will not improve until after 2023.
• 55% (of those applicable) plan to buy assets in 2022, with private equity expected as biggest buyer and second-biggest financer

Summarized below are a few of the survey questions and the results. 

Which of the following areas will have the largest impact on 2022 expenses?

What is your company’s primary growth strategy?

What will be the most attractive category of senior housing in which to invest?

To read the full report, visit seniorhousingnews.com.