Medicare will now pay nursing homes based on new quality metrics
What happened
Medicare updated how it pays skilled nursing facilities. The new rules change how the government measures quality and how much money facilities get for good performance.
Why it matters
The government pays nursing homes billions of dollars each year. How that money is distributed shapes what kind of care patients receive. These changes mean nursing homes will now be judged and paid based on different standards than before.
The signal
Watch for changes in how nursing homes report their quality data and whether patient outcomes improve on the new metrics.