Tag: Nursing Home

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Health Law Highlights

Texas Nursing Homes Face Continued Staffing Shortages, Low Ratings

Summary of article from Community Impact, by Sarah Hernandez:

In 2022, the median turnover rate for registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses in long-term care facilities exceeded 50%, according to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. This increase is attributed to exhaustion after the pandemic, with long-term care proving more demanding than acute hospital settings. Texas received the lowest ranking for nursing home conditions from advocacy group Families for Better Care. In response, new rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services aim to improve care quality by mandating minimum staffing requirements. However, the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies and industry professionals suggest this is unrealistic without strategies to improve staff retention and recruitment, such as pay increases and educational partnerships.

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Enhanced Nursing Home Ownership Data Required by Biden HHS

From Bloomberg Law, by Tony Pugh:

  • The Biden administration finalized a rule requiring nursing homes to provide more detailed information about their ownership structure, including whether they are owned by private equity firms or real estate investment trusts (REITs). 
  • The additional data collected will be made public to allow families to make more informed choices about facilities and allow outside researchers to study the impact of different ownership models on quality of care.
  • Previous research has found that private equity ownership is associated with higher mortality rates for Medicare patients in nursing homes and increased taxpayer costs per resident. 
  • The private equity industry argues that its investments help strengthen struggling nursing homes by providing capital. 
  • The new rule implements requirements under the Affordable Care Act to increase transparency around nursing home ownership and oversight structures.