LEGAL

COVID Deaths at Veterans Homes Settlement

New Jersey will pay about $53 million to settle claims that the state’s negligence contributed to the deaths of more than 100 veterans at state-run nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration came under criticism in April 2020 when it directed veterans homes not to turn away patients who had tested positive, an order that was later rescinded.

In October 2020, the Justice Department sent a letter to Murphy questioning its nursing home death count and announced it was launching a formal investigation of the state’s veterans homes.

During the past two years, Governors’ orders have changed numerous times, in almost every state. Excelas, LLC helps clients organize and store federal and state guidance to help keep compliant with ever-changing guidance. Need help? We’ve got solutions here.

CMS

CMS delivers “gut punch” to nursing homes

A “gut punch” to nursing homes struggling with labor shortages comes with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announcement it will begin posting nursing home staff turnover rates and weekend staffing levels on the consumer-facing Medicare Compare site this month. The same information will then be incorporated into the public Five-Staring rating system in July.

Industry associations agree that the decision’s timing is unfortunate given the ongoing challenges related to the pandemic.

“While we support transparency and agree that staffing hours and turnover metrics are important, more reporting will not solve this issue,” the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living said in a statement to McKnight’s this week. “The addition of this reporting requirement when we are in the middle of the worst labor shortage the nursing home sector has ever faced is tone deaf.”

SUPPORT

Electronic record retrieval: efficient, complete, HIPAA compliant

Hiring has been positive throughout 2021, and strong on average, but labor force participation has remained below pre-pandemic levels and turnover has remained high, putting pressure on employers. A record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November.

In the wake of open positions and unexpected departures, Excelas, LLC is supporting our clients with tasks like record retrieval and record organization, so their teams can focus on other important tasks. Record retrieval tasks can take a significant amount of time and resources, resulting in hours of lost productivity for your organization. Learn how we can help you service your clients.

EDUCATION

ICYMI: The COVID Challenge webinar reprise

In case you missed it, due to the number of people unable to attend the January 20, 2022 webinar and those who have since expressed an interest in the event, we are planning to present the information again, at a date to be determined.