A widely used infection control framework created by the World Health Organization is getting a second life — this time, in nursing homes. Originally designed for hospitals, the WHO’s Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework (IPCAF) has been adapted for use in long-term care settings, and a new pilot study suggests the modified version could become a practical standard for nursing homes looking to sharpen their infection prevention programs. The study, published in February in the peer-reviewed journal Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, looked at how the tool performed across 14 healthcare groups in the Netherlands. Researchers translated the framework…
Author: Mordy Y
A new study out this week delivers a clear message for nursing home administrators: hiring qualified social workers isn’t just good for morale — it measurably reduces how often residents are physically restrained. The research, published in JAMA Network Open in February, analyzed data from more than 2,400 skilled nursing facilities and found that the presence of qualified social workers (QSWs) on staff was directly tied to lower restraint rates. The effect was especially pronounced in facilities that care for residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. What the Study Found Researchers pulled five years of data —…
Atlanta, Georgia — Nursing homes now have two new free resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designed to tackle two of the most persistent challenges in long-term care: deadly infections and staff burnout. The CDC recently released the Sepsis Prevention Assessment Tool for Nursing Homes, known as SPAT, alongside the Targeted Assessment for Burnout, or TAB. Both tools are available at no cost and come with implementation guides, making them accessible to facilities of all sizes. A Targeted Approach to Sepsis Sepsis remains a leading cause of death among nursing home residents. The agency’s new SPAT questionnaire…
When the federal nursing home staffing mandate was repealed late last year, some took it as a sign that the workforce pressure was off. Tracey Moorhead, president and CEO of the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN), sees it differently. “Just because the staffing mandate has been eliminated, the problem of adequate staffing for our sector has not gone away,” Moorhead said. “We still need staff — and more specifically, we need registered nurses and certified nurse aides in the care delivery sector.” Speaking with industry sources, Moorhead laid out AAPACN’s agenda for 2026: a three-part push to address…
Hartford, CT — Connecticut lawmakers are weighing new rules that would tighten oversight of nursing homes owned by private equity firms, as concerns grow over transparency and resident care. The proposal, now before the legislature’s Aging Committee, would require nursing homes to provide detailed financial disclosures to the Department of Social Services starting Feb. 15, 2027. Facilities would need to identify all entities with beneficial ownership stakes, list directors and partners, and submit audited financial statements, debt records, and purchasing agreements. Homes that fail to comply could face civil penalties of $1,000 per day. Performance Bond Requirement The bill would…
When my siblings and I placed our father in hospice care at home in the spring of 2021, his Alzheimer’s disease had reached its final stage. He could no longer dress, feed or move himself without help. We believed hospice would allow him to die peacefully, with dignity, in familiar surroundings. Instead, we discovered how much of that responsibility falls on families. Most Medicare hospice patients receive care at home, supported by agencies reimbursed through a fixed daily rate. In 2024, that payment averaged about $200 per patient, capped annually at roughly $33,500. That amount must cover nursing visits, medications,…
A York resident is asking a simple question after months of paperwork and frustration: Why is it so hard to apply for Medicaid? The issue recently surfaced in coverage of Spiritrust Lutheran’s bankruptcy, where declining nursing home census numbers were partly attributed to the complexity of the Medicaid application process. For one local husband, that explanation rings painfully true. Last spring, he made the difficult decision to move his wife of 61 years into the nursing home at their retirement community. With care costing $15,000 a month and savings steadily shrinking, he began applying for Medicaid last summer after being…
Medicaid fraud is real. It should be investigated and prosecuted aggressively. But there is a clear difference between targeting criminals and jeopardizing health coverage for the vulnerable people who rely on the program. That distinction is at the heart of the Trump administration’s decision to halt $259 million in federal Medicaid funding to Minnesota, citing deficiencies in fraud prevention. The move has sparked sharp criticism from state leaders and health care providers, who argue that the penalty risks harming patients rather than fraudsters. High Stakes for Minnesota In Minnesota, Medicaid — known locally as Medical Assistance — serves about 1.2…
Albany, NY — A coalition of New York lawmakers is urging state leaders to steer $750 million in Medicaid funding toward nursing homes as budget negotiations intensify in the Capitol. Earlier this week, legislators gathered at Jewish Home to make their case. While the state has earmarked $1.5 billion in Medicaid reimbursement increases for hospitals and nursing homes combined, officials have not yet determined how that money will be split. Lawmakers argue that nursing homes deserve half of the total allocation, pointing to mounting financial pressures across the sector. Rising Costs, Lagging Reimbursement According to state data cited by advocates,…
Washington, D.C. — The federal agency that oversees nursing home regulations says it’s done treating administrative complexity as a given — and it wants skilled nursing providers to hold it to that. At a Burden Reduction Conference on Wednesday, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services leaders made unusually candid admissions about how red tape is pushing trained caregivers out of the field. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz set the tone early. “Most people leave the field not because of the pay or any other factor other than the reality that the hassle factor is so large that this stops being…
