COVID-19 may still be in your buildings, but PHE waivers are ending
By
Angela Rinehart
Mar 08, 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has confirmed that the waivers initiated during the public health emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic will be ending on May 11, 2023. Most prominently,...
An analysis of PREP Act immunity for LTC facilities
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Dec 04, 2022
A host of lawsuits over the past two years involve nursing homes where patients or their estates allege that patients contracted COVID-19 due to the facilities’ negligence or failure to properly act. ...
The elephant in the room: Are you prepared for the next emergency?
By
Angela Rinehart
Norris Cunningham
Sep 30, 2022
Historically, emergency preparedness programs in long-term care facilities have been less prioritized, with facilities understandably focusing on patient care and operations. But with the pandemic...
An update on President Biden’s initiatives for long-term care
By
Angela Rinehart
Norris Cunningham
Jul 25, 2022
President Joe Biden gave his State of the Union address on March 1, 2022. Markedly, he announced his intention to “set higher standards for nursing homes” to “make sure your loved ones get the care...
Are you compliant? Up to date vs. fully vaccinated
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Jun 27, 2022
Remember the confusion over who was eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and when? Remember the confusion over the COVID-19 vaccine mandates? Remember the confusion over the approval for the COVID-19 booster...
Notable nursing home case headed to SCOTUS
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
May 23, 2022
Talevski v. Health and Hospital Corporation, et al., has potentially far-reaching implications and could significantly increase the number of claims against nursing homes and the cost of such claims.
HHS enforces early COVID-19 infection control penalties despite ambiguities
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Jan 21, 2022
Infection control penalties upheld against the facility with the first known COVID-19 outbreak reinforce need for implementation – not just policy.
While staffing shortages have plagued the long-term care industry for quite some time, the coronavirus pandemic has certainly shone a spotlight on the issue and worsened it. At the start of...
Mastering the paper records to EHR migration
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
John Myers
Sep 20, 2021
By now, most can agree that going electronic is a necessity of doing business, especially in the health care setting. Among other uses, electronic health records (“EHR”) often provide for the ability...
Drug diversion, a series: How to deal with it
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
John Myers
Aug 23, 2021
In the first part of this series, we discussed drug diversion: what it is, how to prevent it and how to spot it. This column will focus on how to conduct drug diversion investigations. When drug...