CMS Releases Updated PBJ Manual To Allow For On & Off Site Medical Director Responsibilities To Count

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released survey and certification letter 16-13 which reminds long-term care facilities that the mandatory submission period for electronic reporting on staffing begins on July 1, 2016. The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine met with CMS and argued that the “on site” requirement for reporting Medicare Director hours could lead to inaccurate reporting.

CMS has amended this requirement in its recent changes to the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) – Implementation of required electronic submission of Staffing Data for Long Term Care (LTC) Facilities manual, which includes the removal of “on site” when describing the way Medical Directors hours are to be reported.