Charles (CJ) Harkola’s Post

#Staffing mandates - love 'em or hate 'em? The White House finalized the #nursinghome minimum staffing rule. The rule requires a #nursing home to provide at least 3.48 total care hours per resident per day, including 0.55 #RN hours and 2.45 Nurse Aide hours. So, a facility with 100 residents must have 2 - 3 RNs and 10-11 CNAs per shift, along with all other staff members required to provide holistic, comprehensive care. My random thoughts (in no particular order): 1. This seems 100% reasonable when you think about the #acuity of #care in many nursing home facilities. 2. Medicare and Medicaid pay millions to nursing homes each year so they can provide care to beneficiaries. (They pay the facility; the facility pays the staff, right? Or does the organization line its pockets?) 3. Staffing mandates don't magically make RN and CNA candidates appear. Nor do they improve the working environments of nursing facilities. I'm still 100% on the fence about #staffingmandates. I see the positives and negatives. I'm just not convinced they are what our #healthcare system needs the most to advance #caredelivery and outcomes. What do you think? Are staffing mandates the answer? #nursesonlinkedin #healthcareonlinkedin https://lnkd.in/g8XJRP_s

Nursing homes across the U.S., AHCA/NCAL, the American Hospital Association, and other advocacy groups have raised concerns about #CMS’s Final Rule on Nursing Home staffing. The main concern is that the new mandates will exacerbate existing staffing challenges at long term facilities (#LTC). Aside from adding more staff, how will LTCs/Nursing Homes address these challenges? One answer may be partnerships with home health agencies (#HHA) who can care for some of the short-term stay patients at home. Another may be technology solutions that help optimize length of stay for short term patients. Post acute care operators continue to feel pressure from many directions: 👉 Reduced rates from #payors 👉 High operating cost driven by inflation and shortage of nurses 👉 High cost of capital driven by high interest rates Challenging times call for innovative solutions. We can help. Give us a call today. #nursinghomes #skillednursingfacility #SNF #homehealth #LTC #longtermcare #healthpolicy #medicare #medicareadvantage #managedcare #MCO #medicaid #postacutecare #PAC

BREAKING: The Biden Administration has announced that the nursing home staffing mandate will be finalized today. This unfunded mandate & one-size-fits-all approach "requires that all #nursinghomes that receive Medicare and #Medicaid funding provide a total of at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day, including defined periods from registered nurses and from nurse aides. That means a facility with 100 residents would need at least two or three registered nurses and at least 10 or 11 nurse aides, as well as two additional nurse staff, who could be registered nurses, licensed professional nurses, or nurse aides, per shift, according to a White House fact sheet. Plus, nursing homes must have a registered nurse onsite at all times. The mandate will be phased in, with rural communities having longer timeframes, and temporary exemptions will be available for facilities in areas with workforce shortages that demonstrate a good faith effort to hire." https://cnn.it/49M85PU

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched two websites to support nursing home staffing, a precursor to a more formal, $75 million effort expected to start early next year. #skillednursing #staffing #hiring #nurse #longtermcare #nursinghomes

Staffing mandates are here, now what? The complexities and challenges of maintaining nursing staff levels from nurse aides to registered nurses (RNs) have long been evident in the post-acute care space. Turnover, burnout, and higher acuities contribute to many long-term care facilities’ hardships regarding staffing.  These challenges existed long before the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate established minimum staffing requirements for nurse aides and RNs in nursing homes. So now, looking toward the future, nursing facilities must think outside the box when prioritizing staffing and training initiatives, especially for caregivers. In fact, it’s estimated that the mandate requires more than 100,000 new nurses and nurse aides nationwide to fill the demand.  #McKnights #CinematicHealth #CMS #ReadyCNA #staffing #nurses #nurseaides #CNAs #RNs #longtermcare #skillednursing #staffingmadate #takecontrolofyourpipeline

UPDATE: CMS has just announced a final staffing mandate for nursing homes, requiring 3.48 hours of daily direct care per patient, with 3.0 hours split between registered nurses and certified nurse aides. Stay tuned as this conversation continues in Congress and the healthcare sector. Article: https://lnkd.in/efaNtvbD #Healthcare #NursingHomes #CMS #SeniorCare #Nursing #TravelNursing #NurseStaffing #StaffingRule #Medicare #Medicaid

If you are working to maximize staffing efficiencies for the senior services industry, here is proof in the pudding....The industry has always known, however finally some proof to help show there is such a need to automate, working smarter not harder, and innovate! Let's get crackin' in 2025 innovators! #revolutionizinghealthcare #qualityimprovement #GAIL

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) estimates the mandatory staffing rule's national implementation cost at $6 billion, requiring over 101,000 additional staff. The rule mandates 3.48 total hours per resident day (HPRD), 2.45 nurse aide HPRD, 0.55 registered nurse (RN) HPRD, and a 24/7 RN presence. Nationally, current medians fall short of these requirements, especially in rural states, which face higher costs and more significant staffing shortages than urban areas. https://lnkd.in/ezsECCes

For the longterm care industry, “controversial” is only one of many adjectives that has been used to describe the regulations, which require a minimum of 3.48 hours of nursing care per day, per resident, from both nurses and nurse aides in any facility which receives Medicare or Medicaid funding. Every nursing home must also have an RN on site at all times. Here's a perspective that may help your planning and approach to staffing. https://buff.ly/3Sib10r #longtermcare #seniorcare

We are quickly approaching an era, especially with the new VBC models, that we will need to assess and adjust our payment models within the healthcare framework. Subscription based payer models that align with the individual consumers needs, can be increased or decreased at anytime, much like a family plan or an individual plan, could eliminate the need for “middle-man” insurers and allow all funds to flow directly to the healthcare systems and the providers. Allowing insurers to transition back to a place of supplementation and not continuing down the path of allowing insurers to dictate the appropriate care of patients. This model could allow for those decisions to fall to the patient in collaboration with their providers as intended, without the need for prior authorization. You wouldn’t need to submit a claim for basic preventive imaging, that’s wrapped into your preventative medical family plan. You need emergency surgery? Insurance could supplement urgent or emergent procedures, just like your car insurance. You don’t use your car insurance for regular maintenance. Providers meaning: all degree educated professionals who require a license to practice and continuing education credits to maintain practice standards. Our payment models should be reflective of this idea no matter if it’s subscription based or not.