As part of the Baker Administration's regulatory review and efforts to provide short-term regulatory relief to the nursing home provider community, the Public Health Council yesterday authorized the Department of Public Health (DPH) to promulgate revisions to 105 CMR 153.000, Licensure Procedure and Suitability Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities.

Building on its 33 year legacy of assisting long term care staff in furthering their education, the Massachusetts Senior Care Foundation is proud to announce its 2018 Foundation Scholars. This year's class of 36 exceptional awardees include Certified Nursing Assistants, nurses, admissions, dietary and other facility staff who will use their scholarships to further their professional development and leadership in the long term care profession. The 2018 Foundation Scholars represent a broad cross-section of staff and facilities across Massachusetts among

CMS has released the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Confidential Performance Score Reports, which contains each SNFs payment adjustment for FY 2019 along with information on rehospitalization rates and scores used to calculate payment adjustments beginning October 1, 2018.

CMS adopted the federal fiscal year 2019 (FFY 2019) Medicare SNF PPS rule. The final rule establishes a market basket increase of 2.4 percent, a figure statutorily mandated by Congress, and will start October 1, 2018. CMS also finalized a payment system called the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM).

In March 2018, Mass Senior Care began a quality initiative project to identify the most frequently cited deficiencies in Massachusetts long-term care facilities to obtain a better understanding of the reasons for these deficiencies as well as to identify trends.