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About Lance Leifert

Celtic Consulting and Marcum LLP Announce Collaboration Benefiting Senior Living Providers

Celtic Consulting, LLC, a premier post-acute care advisory firm specializing in clinical operations and regulatory compliance, and the national healthcare group of Marcum LLP, a top-ranked national accounting and advisory services firm, have announced collaborative efforts focused on senior living providers. Forging subject expertise, Celtic Consulting’s thought leadership in performance improvement, and Marcum’s expertise in healthcare compliance … Continue reading

Effective January 2021 select facilities may catch a break from CMS, dropping their abuse icon and no longer being capped at two stars.

CMS has released changes to the Five Star Quality Rating System, most notably offering an opportunity for providers affected by an abuse icon. Special Focus Facilities (SFF) may also benefit with the recalculation and resumption of multiple domain ratings. Click here for source details. Celtic has helped numerous clients in enhancing their star ratings, and … Continue reading

Five Star Quality Rating System updates for January 2021

On December 4, 2020, CMS announced the resumption of calculations for the Five Star Quality Rating System and a new updated website for public nursing home quality information: Health Inspections and Quality Measure domains will resume on January 27, 2021. Findings from focused Infection Control surveys will be used in the Health Inspection domain and … Continue reading

Top 3 Tips to Avoid Your Medicare Part A Claim Being Denied

Now that the first year of the PDPM payment system is behind us, CMS and its contractors have a lot of PDPM data to study for trends.  That said, CMS Medicare auditing contractors will be looking to reject claims but under PDPM, the stakes are much higher.  Under PDPM, with typically only 1 PPS assessment … Continue reading

Your Data is Key: Why Analyzing Facility QRP Practices is Essential

Do you know how your community views you? Beginning in October 2020, certain Quality Reporting Programs (QRP) measures are being publicly reported on Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare site. How do you compare to your competitors in these QRP measures? Continual review, analysis and adjustment of your practices is the key to depicting the stellar services … Continue reading

CMS Releases 2021 Medicare Part A & Part B Rates Impacting SNFs

Important information for Skilled Nursing Facility Admissions, Billers and Finance Departments! New Medicare Part A and Part B Deductibles and Premiums have been released for the 2021 calendar year. Effective January 1, 2021; the following rates will apply: Medicare Part A SNF Coinsurance   $185.50/day (Beneficiary to pay $185.50/day after day 20 until end of … Continue reading

5 Ways to Improve Your PDPM Reimbursement

Written By Maureen McCarthy, RN, BS, RAC-MT, QCP-MT, DNS-MT, RAC-MTA It starts at the front door. Smart choices upon admission will yield the best results. A strong admissions department will weigh various factors upon admitting a resident, working with the clinical team to select a strong primary diagnosis. This requires a comprehensive review of documentation … Continue reading

Recalibrating PDPM after COVID-19

Written By Maureen McCarthy, RN, BS, RAC-MT, QCP-MT, DNS-MT, RAC-MTA Confusion, new directives every hour, residents desperate for help, family, and hope. Your clinical awareness is sharp, on high alert, mindful of any shift in condition. Your all-consuming focus is the health of the patients in your care. In March 2020, this was the scene … Continue reading