Are you trying to get your employees vaccinated against COVID-19? So are nursing homes—and they’re coming up short. Many staff members at long-term care facilities are hesitant to get the shot or outright refusing it. In some states fewer than half are accepting the vaccine. Read the story here. 

 

In fact, it turns out the Centers for Disease Control overestimated vaccine needs at long-term care because they simply doubled the number of beds. But staff’s unwillingness to get the shot plus shockingly low census figures means the numbers were way off. Just yesterday the American Health Care Association said occupancy is down to 67%—and predicted that more than 1,600 nursing homes could close this year, more than ten times 2020. 

 

Meanwhile, analysts are questioning whether the delayed DMEPOS competitive bid will happen at all. Analysts at Cowen reported that the future of the program “appears to be up in the air.” “What seems, clear, though, is that Medicare’s competitive bidding program is no longer the threat it once was to the DME industry,” they said. Read more. 

 

Technology can improve engagement with isolated seniors—and it doesn't have to be hard! Join us Feb. 16 at 1:00 p.m. Central to learn more in this new webinar from Birdsong about why this tech can be simpler than you think and how it can improve your bottom line. Register here.

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Take part in this 10-minute survey to help us better understand how businesses like yours are doing. We'll share the results on salary and benefit trends in the home medical equipment and home health industries AND you could win a $100 Visa gift card. Closing soon! Take the survey.