Volume III, Issue 51

Dec. 19, 2016
CMS Final Rule Overhauls Long-Term Care Facility Regulations
WH
In a December 16, 2016 MWE post by
Monica Wallace, Joel C. Rush, Patrick Callaghan
and Chelsea M. Rutherford:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its long-awaited Final Rule on long-term care facility reform...

WIM
According to the authors:

...<This CMS final rule> represents the first comprehensive change to long-term care conditions of participation since 1991. The policies in the Final Rule are designed to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions and infections, improve quality of care and strengthen safety measures for residents and include elimination of pre-dispute arbitration agreements.

.... The regulations are effective on November 28, 2016, but can be implemented in phases.

.... Compliance with the rule will require significant financial and human resources, with CMS projecting that the total cost of the Final Rule will be $831 million in the first year and $736 million per year for subsequent years. CMS estimates that the average costs per facility will be $62,900 in the first year and $55,000 per year for subsequent years, although those estimates may be overly optimistic given the extent of the changes in the regulations.
Risk, Adherence to a Healthy Lifestyle, and Coronary Disease 
WH
Published by the New England Journal of Medicine on 12/15/16, the authors describe their study methodology:
 
Using a polygenic score of DNA sequence polymorphisms, we quantified genetic risk for coronary artery disease in three prospective cohorts - 7814 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, 21,222 in the Women's Genome Health Study (WGHS), and 22,389 in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS) - and in 4260 participants in the cross-sectional BioImage Study for whom genotype and covariate data were available. We also determined adherence to a healthy lifestyle among the participants using a scoring system consisting of four factors: no current smoking, no obesity, regular physical activity, and a healthy diet.

WIM
Across four studies involving 55,685 participants, genetic and lifestyle factors were independently associated with susceptibility to coronary artery disease. Among participants at high genetic risk, a favorable lifestyle was associated with a nearly 50% lower relative risk of coronary artery disease than was an unfavorable lifestyle.
Obama Signs 21st Century Cures Act
WH
Jessica Davis reporting for HealthcareITNews on 12/14/16:

After more than two years in the making, President Barack Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act into law on December 13.
 
The bill passed with overwhelming approval in both the House and Senate. The bi-partisan legislation provides $6.3 billion to electronic health records, precision medicine, mental health and interoperability.

WIM
"It's so nice to see both parties coming together for a common cause," President Obama said. "I think it indicates the power of this issue and how deeply it touches every family across America.

"Today with the Cures Act, we are making good on those (technology) efforts," he added. "We're bringing to reality some new breakthroughs to tackle some of the greater health challenges of our time."

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Florida Health Industry Week in Review is published every Monday by FHIcommunications

Each Monday morning we share the top healthcare headlines of the previous week and summarize What Happened (WH) and Why It Matters (WIM).

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