Alex Spanko has served as the director of communications and marketing for the Center for Innovation (CFI), the non-profit parent of The Green House Project and Pioneer Network, since 2021. Prior to CFI, Alex was the founding editor of the Chicago-based Skilled Nursing News, helping to launch the business-focused trade publication in 2017. He has also worked as a journalist for local newspapers and a technical writer/editor in the financial sector.
Spanko’s recent article with the Green House Project and Pioneer Network titled: OIG Calls For ‘Significant Changes” to Nursing Homes, Small Homes are the Answer focused on a recent report calling on providers and policymakers to provide a clear path for the development of small-home alternatives backed by decades of research. The article provided a range of examples for policymakers to consider:
Policymakers can encourage the development of Green House homes through a range of levers, including:
- Targeted state-level Medicaid rate increases to encourage new development.
- Lending incentives from HUD, which already backs billions in loans for traditional nursing homes.
- Capital grants, such as those proposed in the federal IMPROVE Nursing Homes Act
- The gradual phase-out of shared rooms and bathrooms through changes to the federal Requirements of Participation for Medicare and Medicaid
- Finally implementing Section 6114 of the Affordable Care Act, which requires the development of a national demonstration project on culture change in nursing homes
- Operationalizing the recommendations from the 2022 NASEM report on nursing home improvement, a task that’s currently the focus of the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality CoalitionDuring the upcoming SDAHO 2023 Post-Acute Partners in Care conference, Spanko will focus on many of the findings in the article, giving participants a closer look at the future of senior living.To read the complete article, visit here: To learn more about Alex Spanko and the Green House Project, visit their website
To register for the 2023 SDAHO Post-Acute Partners in Care Conference – CLICK HERE.
