By Chris Attaya July 20, 2026
CMS Tightens the Rules on Accrediting Organizations: What Skilled Nursing Facilities Should Know

On June 16, 2026, CMS published a final rule targeting the oversight of Accrediting Organizations — the national bodies that can certify certain healthcare providers as meeting Medicare requirements. While skilled nursing facilities are not directly regulated by this rule in its current form, the provisions it establishes are worth understanding. They signal where CMS is heading on accreditation, mock surveys, and the relationship between consulting services and regulatory oversight — all topics with real implications for long-term care.

Skilled Nursing , In the Press ,
By Chris Attaya June 03, 2026
Decoding the SSVI: What CMS's New Hospice Scorecard Reveals About Agency Performance

In the FY 2027 Hospice Proposed Rule (CMS-1851-P), CMS introduced the Service and Spending Variation Index (SSVI) — a composite scoring tool that flags hospice agencies whose patterns of care and Medicare spending diverge meaningfully from peer norms. CMS released an accompanying agency-level dataset covering 6,642 hospices in FY2025 and 6,735 hospices in FY2024, offering the most granular view of variation across the hospice benefit that CMS has published to date.

Home Health , In the Press ,
May 27, 2026
CY 2026 HHVBP Insights

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our CY 2026 HHVBP Insights webinar on May 6th. For those who missed it — or want to revisit the discussion — the full recording is available below.

Home Health
By Chris Attaya April 20, 2026
HHVBP Scores are Changing Again

With the start of CY 2026, Home Health Agencies (HHAs) will again need to recalibrate how they look at their Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Total Performance Scores (TPS). Understanding these changes is important since your opportunity for HHVBP bonuses will depend on how your scores compare to HHAs in your cohort. As we will discuss, whenever CMS changes the outcome measure sets, measure weights and/or baseline data, your current TPS scores are likely to change.

Home Health , In the Press ,
April 14, 2026
What CMS Just Changed About How Your Facility Gets Surveyed

CMS revised Chapters 5 and 7 of the State Operations Manual (SOM) effective April 30, 2026. The changes affect how complaints are prioritized, how surveys are conducted, and what enforcement consequences follow — with direct implications for every SNF.

Skilled Nursing , In the Press ,
By Greg Seiple March 12, 2026
Are Your MDS Submissions Telling the Whole Story?

When it comes to quality measures, Five-Star ratings, and PDPM reimbursement, the accuracy of your MDS data isn't just important — it's everything. If the data going into your analytics doesn't match what CMS actually has on record, your reports, projections, and financial calculations are working from an incomplete picture. That's exactly the problem SHP's two new MDS Validation Reports are designed to solve.

Skilled Nursing , In the Press ,
By Greg Seiple February 20, 2026
CMS Updates State Operations Manual: What Long-Term Care Providers Need to Know

If you've been working in skilled nursing for any length of time, you know that the State Operations Manual is an evolving rulebook. CMS often releases updates that clarify, revise, or—let's be honest—can complicate how we demonstrate compliance. The latest round of changes arrived via QSO-26-03-NH on January 30, 2026, with an effective date of March 30, 2026. These updates to Chapters 5 and 7 of the SOM don't revolutionize the survey process, but they do tighten up several critical areas that directly impact how surveyors conduct investigations and how facilities must respond to deficiencies. If you're responsible for survey readiness, regulatory compliance, or quality assurance, here's what you need to understand.

Skilled Nursing , In the Press ,
By Jill Neeley January 07, 2026
How CMS Updates Drove CAHPS Hospice Return Rates Higher in Q2 2025

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey is a vital tool for capturing the experiences of families and caregivers with hospice care. In Q2 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented several key changes to the survey process. This blog analyzes the impact of these changes, using specific return rate data to show how each intervention contributed to a significant increase in survey participation.

Hospice
By Chris Attaya December 11, 2025
Making the Cut with SHP: Strategies for Home Health Success in 2026

The CY 2026 Home Health Final Rule is official—and the news is better than expected. CMS reduced the proposed -6.4% cut to -1.3%, returning $915 million to the industry. But with inflation and rising wages, margins are still tight. Agencies that thrive in 2026 will be the ones using data to protect their bottom line.

Home Health
By Greg Seiple December 10, 2025
From Compliance to Excellence: How Strategic Management of Staffing Data Drives Both Star Ratings and Patient Outcomes

For too long, skilled nursing facilities have viewed Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) reporting as a quarterly regulatory checkbox—a necessary burden to satisfy CMS requirements and avoid penalties. But forward-thinking facilities are discovering something remarkable: when approached strategically, the management of staffing data becomes one of the most powerful tools for operational excellence, quality improvement, and competitive positioning.

Skilled Nursing