CMS Update on Payroll-Based Journal

Review this members-only update from AHCA.

Dear AHCA Member,

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that starting in July 2018 it will post the number of hours worked by non-nursing staff (all staff listed in Table 1 of the PBJ Policy Manual) submitted through the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) system. CMS will also begin to distinguish between hours submitted for direct employees and contract staff.

Reminders

Since November 1, 2017, CMS has been posting data on nursing staff (CNAs, Med Aides, LPNs, DONs, and RNs) and makes this data available to the public through public use files (PUFs) here.

In April 2018, CMS published new Five-Star ratings that include PBJ staffing data on its Nursing Home Compare (NHC) website. AHCA hosted a webinar that provided an overview of these new changes. Members are encouraged to access the recorded webinar and other key resources including Frequently Asked Questions and the latest Technical User’s Guide on ahcancalED. Please note you will need your AHCA username and password to register. Talking points can be accessed here.

Facilities that fail to submit any staffing data by the deadline or who have audits that identify significant discrepancies between the hours reported and verified will receive a one-star rating for the Five Star staffing domain for three months. Also, centers reporting seven or more days in a quarter with no RN hours will receive a one-star rating in the staffing domain starting in July.

Additionally, centers that meet the following exclusions will not have a staffing rating or staffing data reported; NHC will display a “Data Not Available” message for these facilities:

• The nursing home has five or more days with at least one resident but no nurse staffing hours reported. Since nurse aides in training cannot operate independently as nurses, nurse aides in training are not included.
• Total nurse staffing aggregated over all days in the quarter with both nurses and residents is excessively low (<1.5 HRD)
• Total nurse staffing aggregated over all days in the quarter with both nurses and residents is excessively high (>12 HRD)
• Nurse aide staffing aggregated over all days in the quarter with both nurses and residents is excessively high (>5.25 HRD)

Please note that the deadline to submit the PBJ staffing data collected from your center during the April 1- June 30, 2018 reporting period is August 14, 2018. You are encouraged to enter your data into the PBJ portal and run some validation checks to ensure the data’s accuracy before the deadline.

AHCA will continue to provide updates on PBJ and the new ratings as they become available. If you have any questions, please contact the AHCA PBJ team here.

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for AHCA/NCAL membership. Dissemination, distribution or copying the contents of this email beyond this group is strictly prohibited.