2025 NAC Work Study and Salary Report: Support NACs and Determine FTE Needs

The American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) surveys nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) every other year on aspects of their work, salary, and time. The 2025 AAPACN NAC Work Study and Salary Report offers valuable insights into the challenges NACs face that can help with staff retention. The study also …

Nurse Assessment Coordinator FTE Calculator Tool

AAPACN has re-released the Nurse Assessment Coordinator (NAC) FTE Calculator for SNF leaders to estimate the time needed to complete assessments as well as project how many hours the NAC needs for meetings and other duties. This AAPACN resource is copyright protected. AAPACN individual members may download or print one …

iQIES S&C Provider Electronic Plan of Correction (ePOC) Administrator Role User Manual

This user manual addresses the processes necessary to perform Survey & Certification (S&C) Electronic Plan of Correction (ePOC) functions in iQIES. CMS iQIES S&C User Manual: ePOC – Provider ePOC Admin Role v1.2 (Posted 07/22/2025) From https://qtso.cms.gov/software/iqies/reference-manuals

FY 2026 Final Rule ICD-10 Mapping File, Wage Index File, and Case-Mix Rates

Regulation No. CMS-1827-F Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026; Final Rule Year 2026 Publication Date 2025-08-04 This rule (CMS-1827-F) is currently on public display at the Federal Register and will publish on August 4, …

FY 2026 SNF PPS Final Rule Posted

On July 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule for updates to Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2026. CMS is publishing this final rule in …

Safe Injection, Infusion, Medication Vial, and Point-of-Care Testing Practices in Healthcare (2025)

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has released an updated position paper titled “Safe Injection, Infusion, Medication Vial, and Point-of-Care Testing Practices in Health care (2025),” published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC). This update builds upon APIC’s 2016 position paper and reflects advancements in science, updated regulatory …

Get Ready for the FY 2026 ICD-10-CM Coding Updates – Aug. 21, 2025

Members: $25 | Non-members: $50Continuing Education: 1.5 CE hoursRecording Date: Aug. 21, 2025 Duration: 90 minutesSpeaker: Jennifer LaBay, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, QCP, CRC It is time to prepare for the FY 2026 ICD-10-CM coding updates, which go into effect on Oct. 1, 2025. HIPAA requires that the facility’s clinical team ensure accurate diagnoses are …

Light the Fuse on Five-Star Success – July 24, 2025

Members: $25 | Non-members: $50Continuing Education: 1.5 CE hoursRecording Date: July 24, 2025 Duration: 90 minutesSpeaker: Jessie McGill, RN, BSN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA The Fourth of July fireworks are over, so now it’s time to light a new fuse—on Five-Star success! Nearly every piece of Minimum Data Set (MDS) coding plays a role in shaping …

Back to PDPM Basics – Part 1: The PT and OT Components

In skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), staff members often find the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) process complex and unfamiliar, especially when determining how Medicare (and, in many states, Medicaid) payment is calculated. PDPM is based on five separate case-mix adjusted components: Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT), Speech Language Pathology (SLP), …

TIP: Updated Five-Star Manual Available

Effective with the July 2025 refresh, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is implementing a change to the methodology for calculating the Health Inspection domain, shifting from using the three most recent standard health inspection surveys to the two most recent standard health inspection surveys to calculate Health …