Illinois Health Care Association

04/06/2026

Volunteers are the backbone of any organization and our friends at Marklund recognize their importance. Here's a huge THANK YOU to Marklund's volunteers and all the volunteers who donate their time to making the world a better place.

04/06/2026

Bethany Rehabilitation & Health Care Center is taking their dining experience to the next level with fresh ingredients and a weekly refresh of their menu.

Food is one of the most important aspects of what makes senior living incredible, and at Tutera, we make meals an experience. We create new menus every week, using fresh ingredients to craft delicious dishes so you'll savor every bite.

04/06/2026

CMS says it is developing a regression framework to measure whether recent trends may reflect nominal coding changes (aka upcoding).

If the agency moves forward with its outlined approach to PDPM changes, it could essentially lead to a blanket 4.3% reduction in case-mix-indexes or base rates, or a 3.6% total reduction across the payment system.

04/05/2026

Hoping this Easter brings you and your residents and staff continued peace, joy and happiness.

~Illinois Health Care Association~

04/04/2026

Join IHCA and Carey Patton, a registered nurse with more than 25 years of experience in skilled nursing facilities, as she presents this month's virtual Lunch & Learn Series on "Driving Excellence: How QRP Measures Impact SNF Quality, Compliance, and Reimbursement" - Tues., April 21st.

Register today: https://lnkd.in/gCE4PyK5

Thank you to our Lunch & Learn Series presenter, Synergy Care, Inc.!
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About Carey Patton...
Carey has extensive expertise in acute and post-acute care and holds RAC-CT and RAC-CTA certifications in addition to serving in various leadership and clinical roles throughout her career. Before assuming her current role, Carey spent 11 years as Chief Nursing Officer for a skilled nursing organization in Texas, providing strategic oversight and clinical leadership across multiple facilities. For the past five and a half years, she has served as a nurse consultant with Synergy Care, Inc., supporting clinical excellence, regulatory compliance, and quality improvement initiatives.

04/04/2026

The CDC says increasing vaccination coverage, including offering on-site vaccinations, could reduce flu and COVID-related morbidity among health care providers.

Flu and COVID-19 vaccination rates among all health care workers for the 2024-25 respiratory virus season was 76.3% and 40.2%, respectively, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released April 2.

04/04/2026

As state Medicaid payments fail to keep pace with rising costs, many skilled nursing facilities are becoming more selective and limiting the number of Medicaid patients they accept.

Low Medicaid reimbursement rates are making it increasingly difficult for hospitals to transfer patients to nursing homes because of beds that are

04/03/2026

CMS issued its Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System proposed rule for 2027 and is also proposing to remove two measures from the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) beginning in 2028.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Thursday issued its Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) proposed rule,

04/02/2026

Keeping nursing home residents out of the hospital.

Nursing homes that administered antiviral chemoprophylaxis, or chemoprevention, to at least 70% of residents within the first two days of an influenza outbreak reduced the risk of hospitalization among its residents by 21%. That is according to a March study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

04/01/2026

Brief messages addressing views about aging could increase interest in certain physical, health and social activities among senior living residents.

The studies focused on senior center attendees, but the report notes the findings could extend to senior living communities.

04/01/2026

How senior care teams can spend less time on documentation and more time with residents.
https://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/how-senior-care-teams-can-spend-less-time-on-documentation-and-more-time-with-residents/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ5_8pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81MTQ3NzE1NjkyMjgwNjEAAR40xTMWSALpPGEMQlDaS9zIhtla1p0_TKwDwn2nRvaxZMN7L0ipjSLaQZ1FaQ_aem_7wx09nehpEU1FUPIyV6yTQ

04/01/2026

Research has shown that significant improvements in cognitive processing speed and physical performance measures among older adults who participate in virtual reality-based.

Community-dwelling older adults who participated in a VR-based multimodal training showed significant improvements in both cognitive processing speed and multiple physical performance measures, according to a March study published in BMC Geriatrics.