Medicare Payment Increase Did Not Change Time with Skilled Nursing Staff

November 25, 2002 Medicare Payment Increase Did Not Change Time with Skilled Nursing Staff Research indicates that overall skilled nursing staff time increased only a negligible amount of 1.9 minutes per patient per day after a newly introduced Medicare payment was made.  These are the findings in an analysis conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office and released in a report entitled, “Skilled Nursing Facilities: Available Data Show Average Nursing Staff Time Changed Little after Medicare Payment Increase.”  This is compared to a relative average of 3.5 hours of nursing time per patient per day in 2000 . . .