— “The House of Representatives passed a 3-month patch late Thursday to stabilize physicians’ Medicare payments — delaying dramatic cuts scheduled for 2014 — while Congress works on a permanent repeal of Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula.” – MedPageToday
— “Long-term care providers have lambasted the current [outpatient therapy payment] system, which requires Medicare contractors to manually review claims in excess of a set annual amount. Providers and government oversight agencies have reported that this system has created confusion and a backlog of unprocessed claims.” – McKnight’s
— “The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has recommended a 4% reduction in skilled nursing facility payments in 2016, prompting an outcry from providers.” – McKnight’s
— “While many long-term care providers in the U.S. have adopted electronic health records and provided patients with Internet access, few facilities are participating in health information exchange with outside providers, according to a recent survey, Government Health IT reports.” – iHealthBeat
— “Nursing homes still account for the vast majority of long-term care services available in the United States despite policies meant to encourage home- and community-based care, according to a new government report. The first-ever ‘National Study of Long-Term Care Providers’ includes data on the capacity and operational characteristics of providers, and information about the people cared for in these settings.” – McKnight’s