CMS Issues Guidance on Five-Star Staffing Measures

Guidance on staffing measures tied to the five-star rating system was released on Thursday – the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its staffing measures to include three on staffing levels and three on staff turnover.

Total nurse staffing hours per resident per day on weekends, in addition to previously announced nurse turnover within a given year, annual registered nurse turnover and annual number of administrators who left the sector will be incorporated into staffing measures.

The agency specified a maximum of 100 points can be awarded for case-mix adjusted total nurse staffing and RN staffing, 50 points max for weekend statistics, and 50 points each for annual total nurse turnover, RN turnover and administrator turnover, respectively.