10 Mar
Special Focus Facilities – New Details, New Watchlist
Understanding SFFs CMS’s Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program was implemented in 1998 and has made its share of the headlines over the years. Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey raised concerns in 2019, leading to the first publication of the list of SFF Candidates. Their 2021 proposal calls for further oversight and expansion of the program […]
11 Jul
Sea Change in the Staffing Star Rating
Change is Inevitable On Thursday July 8, CMS finally announced the details of the long-awaited changes to the Staffing Star Rating calculations. CMS had previously signaled their intention to incorporate weekend staffing and turnover measures into the Star Rating, but hadn’t indicated how they might do that until now. Here at StarPRO, we’re hard at […]
29 Oct
Think Local: StarPRO’s new Local Market Rating
Healthcare is Local Whether seeking long-term care or rehabbing after surgery, patients typically seek care close to home. But if there’s more than one option, how do they choose? Hospital discharge planners are required to provide a list of local facilities (and their CMS star ratings) to choose from. Patients are advised to visit the facility (or […]
12 Aug
StarPRO August Updates: Slick New Survey Features
Source: CMS Often, things slow down during summer, but we’ve been busy with CMS updates, FY2022 PPS rulings and new StarPRO features. Read on for more. CMS Issues FY2022 PPS Final Rule Late last month, CMS issued the 290-page document (here’s a mercifully shorter summary from CMS) that outlines next year’s Medicare payment plan, as […]
02 Jun
Fixes for the “Broken” Nursing Home Star Ratings Part 3: Quality
Source: CMS Welcome to the third installment of our four-part series on improving the CMS Five-Star rating system for nursing homes. This month, we move from Staffing to Quality, the last of the three domains. Why Is Quality Last? The fact that Quality is last is the perfect way to start. Isn’t in strange […]
05 May
Fixes for the “Broken” Nursing Home Star Ratings Part 2: Staffing
Source: CMS Welcome to the second installment of our four-part series on how the CMS Five-Star rating system for Nursing Homes can be improved. Last month we covered the Survey domain and this month, we’re turning our focus to Staffing. From the perspective of the operator or administrator, staffing represents a constant battle. On one […]
01 Feb
Infection Control Deficiencies Showing Outsized Impact on Survey Star Rating
Source: CMS As we reported in December, CMS recently announced that the results of Focused Infection Control Surveys (FICs) conducted during the pandemic would be included in the Health Inspection (Survey) domain of the Five-Star program for Nursing Home ratings. This reversed course from a previous statement that these deficiencies would not contribute to Five […]
10 Dec
Survey and Quality to be Unfrozen, Infection Surveys Included
Source: CMS The Thaw Continues According to their memo on December 4th, CMS will resume calculation of the Health Inspection (Survey) and Quality domains of the Five-Star Rating system for Skilled Nursing Facilities as of January 27, 2021. This continues the trend started last month with an end to the one-quarter “freeze” of the Staffing […]
09 Nov
Unfrozen Staffing Star Ratings Rise, Defying Expectations
Source: CMS Frozen No More At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, CMS issued several waivers to help facilities focus on patient care rather than on reporting requirements. In addition to the earlier halt of standard Survey activity, these waivers covered both MDS and PBJ data, resulting in freezes to several of the Star Rating domains. But […]
21 Oct
SNF Trends Report Underlines Correlation Between Star Ratings, Occupancy and Operating Margin
Image credit: CLA Recently, respected advisory firm CliftonLarsonAllen released their latest SNF Cost Comparison and Industry Trends Report. CLA explores several prevailing themes in an industry besieged by challenges, including issues with decreased liquidity and occupancy, the rise of telehealth, and the continuing importance of PDPM to the bottom line. But one of the findings […]