Changes in Nursing Home Regulations – Post COVID-19

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, News

Dr. David Grabowski, a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School said in a recent article published in McKnight’s Senior Living, “I think we’re going to see some big, big changes going forward”. “COVID-19 has revealed the fragility of nursing homes’ business model and our underinvestment in high-quality, long-term care”, said Grabowski. The Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes released a report in September that provided 27 recommendations and over 100 action steps for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The report analyzed areas ranging from testing to access to visitation to aging nursing home’s infrastructure.

Among the changes Dr. Grabowski would like to see are smaller nursing home settings, such as the Green House model of care, which has endured fewer deaths from the pandemic. He also noted, however, that such a model has implementation challenges. Grabowski noted that some alternative payment models are promising, institutional special needs plans (I-SNP) for example, emphasize more clinical care and pay nursing homes to provide this higher-quality care. Stay the course, stay strong, stay well, mask up and stay tuned!