CMS: Hundreds More Buildings Could Receive One-Star Staffing Ratings Under New Rules

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced March 5 that it would overhaul its star ratings system, cracking down on staffing in particular. The agency will automatically give one-star staffing ratings to nursing facilities that have four or more days per quarter with no registered nurse (RN) on site, down from the current threshold of seven or more.

“Nurse staffing has the greatest impact on the quality of care nursing homes deliver, which is why CMS analyzed the relationship between staffing levels and outcomes,” CMS said in a statement announcing the new rules. “CMS found that as staffing levels increase, quality increases.”

Though staffing problems are well documented in the SNF world, they likely aren’t the cause of the problems CMS is trying to address, Don Feige, the founder and former owner of SNF-focused software firm ezPBJ, told Skilled Nursing News.