August 1, 2023

F-Tags in Review: Avoid the “Red Hand” of Abuse and Neglect

Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added a “red hand” icon  to the nursing facility’s profile page on the Nursing Home Compare website. This “red hand” icon indicates if a facility has been cited for abuse under Code of Federal Regulations §483.12 Freedom from Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation. Currently, there are more than 700 nursing facilities across the country who show this icon on their Nursing Home Compare profile page. As CMS explains, this icon is…

A Guide to Developing Resident Baseline Care Plans

The intent of F655 Baseline Care Plans is intended to promote continuity of care and communication among nursing home staff, increase resident safety, and safeguard against adverse events that may occur after admission, and to ensure the resident and representative, if applicable, are informed of the initial plan for delivery of care and services by receiving a written summary of the baseline care plan.The real issue is that nurses seem to have forgotten that care…

What You Need to Know Before Providing Outpatient Therapy at a SNF

Most skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have Medicare provider numbers that allow them to treat and bill both Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B patients. Often the therapists who treat the short term sub-acute rehab patients develop such a good rapport with their patients that the patients want to return for continued therapy after they are discharged home.Should the SNF provider allow patients to come from the community into the SNF for outpatient therapy treatments?…