The AAPACN Resident Interview Toolkit helps nursing home staff conduct effective resident interviews as part of the MDS 3.0 assessment process. It provides clear guidance and resources for the entire interdisciplinary team—nurses, dietary managers, social services, activities, and others—to ask residents about their mood, memory, daily routines, and care preferences. …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memo that will have a significant impact on the health inspection star rating and how the long-star antipsychotic measure is calculated, among other changes: Health Inspection Star Rating: Long-Stay Antipsychotic Measure Methodology: Other changes: For more details, see the memo: …
Navigating Medicare Part A coverage in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) is a matter of regulatory compliance. But it’s also a daily ethical test for facility staff and administrators. In many ways it depends on the honor system, and those responsible for billing and care case management must understand and apply …
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated the “Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines” guidance several times since requiring COVID-19 vaccinations to be coded on the MDS as of October 2024. Facility teams can track these changes by using AAPACN’s COVID-19 Vaccine “Up to Date” Guidance …
Memo # QSO-25-20-NH Posting Date 2025-06-18 Fiscal Year 2025 Memorandum Summary • Post Performance Data for Nursing Home Chains – “Chains” refers to groups of Medicare-certified nursing homes that are connected through common owners, and operators (also called “affiliated entities”). CMS will begin posting aggregated performance information for these nursing homes on …
In this LTC NAC Chat podcast episode, Amy Stewart, MSN, RN, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, chief nursing officer for AAPACN, and Jennifer LaBay, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, QCP, CRC, curriculum development specialist with AAPACN, discuss the Medicare appeals process in skilled nursing facilities. Additional Resources:
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In the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) and Consolidated Billing Proposed Rule for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) does not reveal any firm proposals for new quality measures (QMs). However, CMS does serve up a simple reminder for nurse …
Members and Non-members: FreeContinuing Education: 1 CE hourRecording Date: June 26, 2025 Duration: 60 minutesSpeakers: Joan N. Hebden, MS, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, and Marko Predic, MS, CIC, FAPIC Outbreaks may represent a single case of a disease (e.g., legionella) or an increase in the occurrence of a particular illness above what is expected …
The American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) CEO and President, Tracey Moorhead, took the stage at the AAPACN 2025 Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, to deliver the annual CEO address to a packed room of dedicated post-acute care professionals. In her opening remarks, Moorhead welcomed attendees to the city of …
An updated Quick Reference Guide is now available. The Quick Reference Guide provides high-level information on the SNF Quality Reporting Program, including frequently asked questions and helpful links. PAC-SNF-QuickReferenceGuide-20250508 (PDF) From https://www.cms.gov/medicare/quality/snf-quality-reporting-program/submission-deadlines
