Over the last few years, there's probably been no hotter topic in the skilled nursing space than I-SNPs — special Medicare Advantage plans that cover long-term residents of nursing homes and other institutional sites of care. As CEO of Longevity Health Plan, René Lerer has had a front-row seat to the expansion of these plans, which the company currently offers in Illinois and New York. Lerer joined "Rethink" to discuss trends in this specialized space, as well as how providers can launch their o...
Oct 22, 2019•29 min
It's never been a more important time for skilled nursing facilities to get to know their hospital partners, especially as SNFs face penalties for patient readmissions and a constant battle to maintain census and provide the best quality of care. That makes open lines of communication and strong relationships essential for acute and post-acute care —and Sue Craft, the vice president of inpatient case management and post-acute care services at Henry Ford Health System is at the forefront of that ...
Sep 27, 2019•26 min
As the Medicare program's top clinical official, Dr. Kate Goodrich has played a major role in the wave of nursing home regulatory scrutiny coming from Washington and Baltimore over the last few years. Goodrich and CMS administrator Seema Verma have placed skilled nursing facility compliance and oversight at the top of their to-do lists, with a litany of accomplishments already under their belts — from an overhaul of the five-star rating system to the public identification of properties under con...
Sep 03, 2019•24 min
Skilled nursing providers can get chills at the thought of alternative payment models, which include Medicare arrangements such as bundled payments — one reimbursement shared by a range of providers for a single episode of care. After all, many bundled payment programs achieve their savings by cutting down on post-acute spending, adding pressure to already-squeezed skilled nursing facilities. But Brian Fuller, the CEO of Integrated Care Solutions, thinks SNFs shouldn't despair. ICS is a care coo...
Aug 22, 2019•29 min
Publicly traded health care REITs have been blamed for some of the skilled nursing industry's woes in recent years — after all, how can a provider keep up with annual escalators as it navigates an uncertain reimbursement landscape and ever-rising staffing costs? But Wendy Simpson, president and CEO of LTC Properties, Inc., says REITs aren't the ones to blame — and that operators should instead make sure that any lease arrangement leaves enough money to put back into their operations before signi...
Aug 08, 2019•24 min
Between the release of a "secret" list of underperforming nursing homes and multiple hearings on Capitol Hill, the skilled nursing industry has found itself under the regulatory and media microscope for most of 2019. And for the most part, Mark Parkinson thinks that's a good thing. The president and CEO of the American Health Care Association sat down with Skilled Nursing News to discuss why transparency could ultimately help operators by raising awareness of other issues in the space — along wi...
Jul 15, 2019•27 min
Care Providers Oklahoma President & CEO Nico Gomez by Skilled Nursing News
Jul 01, 2019•29 min
The challenges of government reimbursement and shifting consumer demand have hit non-profits in the skilled nursing space particularly hard. Many of them have exited the business entirely, with independent non-profits and local governments moving to cut their losses and sell. Non-profit continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) have also shied away from the sector, with some companies exploring CCRC-like models without any skilled nursing at all. But Altenheim Senior Living, a CCRC in Stron...
Jun 14, 2019•38 min
Stephen Rosenberg founded Greystone 30 years ago with the modest goal of forming his own consulting shop after an executive stint at Dean Witter Reynolds. But over time, Rosenberg and Greystone built a name for themselves in the health care and multifamily housing lending space, growing to encompass a portfolio of $34 billion — with a major stake in the government-backed financing of skilled nursing facilities. Listen to this episode of Rethink to hear Rosenberg discuss: - Why investors are incr...
Jun 03, 2019•27 min
Amid the revolution sweeping Medicare reimbursements for skilled nursing facilities — from PDPM to value-based purchasing — Medicaid has quietly emerged as a prime threat to operators across the country. Reimbursement rates in multiple states don't cover the daily cost of caring for Medicaid residents, forcing buildings to close or endure disruptive receiverships across the country. As the CEO and founder of law firm sb2 Inc., Chad Bogar has dedicated his career to helping residents and operator...
May 16, 2019•26 min
Skilled nursing provider OnPointe and its CEO, Eric Tanner, are all in on care coordination, with a specific focus on determining what hospitals want to hear when looking for preferred post-acute partners. Despite a recent setback with landlord MedEquities, Tanner remains upbeat about OnPointe's position in the marketplace, focusing on the ways his company's buildings can solve local hospitals' costliest problems — and in turn become their top choice for referrals as he builds a post-acute compa...
Apr 30, 2019•31 min
Earlier this year, Betsy Rust and Plante Moran released a report with a fairly explosive thesis: Margins for skilled nursing facilities had actually been on the rise between 2016 and 2017. But the senior care advisory firm was quick to point out that the report only considered Medicare reimbursements — with Medicare Advantage and Medicaid strains working to wipe out the Medicare fee-for-service gains. SNN invited Rust to expand on her findings on the latest episode of "Rethink: The Future of Ski...
Apr 05, 2019•24 min
By making patient condition and characteristics the driver of reimbursement, over the number of therapy minutes provided to a patient, the Patient-Driven Payment Model coming in October has changed the game for rehabilitation and skilled nursing providers alike. And Aegis Therapies, which is based in Frisco, Texas and provides third-party rehabilitation to more than 500 nursing homes and senior care facilities, has to prove its value to the skilled nursing facilities where it offers services. Ae...
Mar 12, 2019•32 min
Based on the last few years, Genesis Healthcare should be on the ropes — significant quarterly losses, lease restructurings, and public criticism from one of its primary landlords have weighed on the skilled nursing giant. But the Kennett Square, Pa.-based operator closed out 2018 with cautious optimism, both from financial analysis firm Stifel and CEO George Hager, who predicts smoother sailing ahead in 2019. In his conversation with Rethink, Hager firmly pushed back on current industry wisdom ...
Feb 14, 2019•32 min
From the federal government to Avalere Health to the advisory firm that bears her name, Anne Tumlinson has been a leading voice on the business of long-term health care in the United States. As CEO of Anne Tumlinson Innovations, she hears from providers around the country, who tell her about their struggles and successes with new payment models — including managed Medicare and accountable care organizations. In our conversation, Tumlinson said she’s no longer comfortable telling providers that a...
Jan 10, 2019•32 min
Rick Matros has made a name for himself as one of the most outspoken leaders in the long-term health care space, offering blunt assessments of certain operators’ business models and the future of the skilled nursing industry at large. Listen to our interview with Matros and hear: -- How Sabra plans to grow in the years ahead after adding CCP’s assets and shedding Genesis’s properties -- Matros’s take on the Welltower-ProMedica deal, as well as the potential for similar collaborations between pos...
Dec 20, 2018•32 min
