By a 3-2 vote, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) adjusted nursing home payment rates down by 4.6%, resulting in what will be a total loss of $320 million. This was announced late Monday, April 11.  

CMS acknowledged that the adjustment would result in savings of $1 billion a year (or $5 billion over five years), and that it would have had no choice but to adjust the rates sometime in the future anyway because of an impending Congress mandate.  

One of those mandated rate adjustments was scheduled for Oct. 1; however, that adjustment requires CMS to consider other factors such as hospital costs, which are not yet available. 

Nursing homes carry the brave yet heavy-laden responsibility of looking after the most vulnerable population with minimal resources and support. It does not have to be that way. During a time of historic workforce shortages, rising costs of elderly care, and record-breaking inflation, SNF operators see the proposed pay cuts as another wound in their already harsh and damaged reality. 

We are in a time of serious uncertainty for many senior nursing facilities. 

Rising costs and lower census have put the whole industry under tremendous fiscal strain, and it's hard to see the end of that tunnel. If things keep going in this direction, many facilities will not be able to afford to keep their doors open—and that means seniors who need care will not be able to get it. 

We should all be asking CMS and legislators one simple question: "Who will care for our loved ones if there is a wave of SNF closures?" 

So how do facilities like yours move forward? By finding and implementing a system that facilitates the time-heavy and mundane tasks that eat up your staff’s hours and manpower.  

While external factors are hard to control, internal factors, such as utilizing the power of automated-assisted data entry and disease monitoring, is something that your facility can easily and quickly enforce. 

Learn more here >

About BASE10 Genetics, Inc.
Located in Chicago, BASE10 is a healthcare software technology company whose platform creates turnkey disease management programs that can be deployed at scale for nursing home operators, pharmacies, payors, and self-funded employers.