Cutting Through The COVID Staffing Star Confusion

Tips for the PBJ pro — Top 5 PBJ Mistakes

Jan 13, 2021

We’re often asked, “What are the biggest mistakes facilities make when completing their PBJ reports?”

Here are the top 5 — based on thousands of facility implementations, consultations, and audit reviews.

CMS Announces Updates to Five Star Quality Rating System

Nov 30, 2020

CMS announced on December 4 that the Five Star Quality Rating system will resume all updates with the January 2021 refresh. Due to the public health emergency (PHE) first issued in March 2020, the 3 domains of the rating system had previously been held constant at varying times throughout the past 9 months as a result of changes to health inspections and certain temporary regulatory waivers.

CMS UPDATE: Q2 2020 optional PBJ data due November 14

Sep 23, 2020

CMS has announced that Q2 2020 data (January 1 – March 31) is due no later than November 14. The alert was posted on the CMS PBJ portal and reads:

New Q2 Deadline: CMS has established November 14, 2020 as the new deadline for the Q2 2020 data.

CMS announces end of emergency blanket data waiver for nursing homes

Jun 30, 2020

Federal officials said Friday that they are ending an emergency blanket waiver intended to reduce administrative burden on nursing homes amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) said that effective August 14, nursing homes nationwide will again be required to submit staffing data through the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) system, which allows the agency to collect “staffing information which impacts the quality of care residents receive,” CMS said in a press release.

Things to remember when submitting PBJ data

Apr 23, 2020

CMS will provide further information as soon as possible but are encouraging facilities to still report data as they are able. There will be no penalties or negative impacts to staffing ratings for not submitting by May 15.

As facilities work to gather the necessary information, here are some reminders to help perform a successful submission:

Top 9 Things to Remember About PBJ

Feb 5, 2020

Accurate PBJ reporting can impact your Five-Star rating, referral patterns, census stability and overall long-term viability.

PBJ update: Goodbye, self-reported census!

Jan 17, 2020

When CMS first implemented PBJ, facilities self-reported their census data for Five-Star staffing calculations. Since April 2018, CMS has automatically calculated the census instead. While facilities could still report their census, CMS did not use the data in its Five-Star staffing calculations.

A January 9 update to PBJ Data Submission Specifications now states CMS will no longer accept any census data in PBJ file submissions.

Staffing takes a front seat when driving quality of care

Dec 12, 2019

In CMS’s new rating methodology, facilities are rewarded for staffing more RNs — and punished when they don’t have enough. Ratings on the staffing domain are based on two measures: the number of RN hours per resident per day and total nursing hours (combined RN, LPN, and nurse aide hours) per resident per day, all pulled from quarterly Payroll-Based Journal reports

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

Apr 30, 2019

The new, stricter skilled nursing staffing standards slated for implementation by the federal government next month weren’t entirely unexpected, but they raise questions about the broader problem of understaffed facilities — and hundreds of buildings could be in the crosshairs.

The drop in the threshold for days without RN staffing wasn’t a surprise to Feige; CMS had hinted at the move in various forums, he told SNN.

Investing in Staffing Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to Skilled Nursing Profits

Feb 27, 2019

Facilities that perform well on their staffing ratings see financial results well below those of national medians according to a webinar hosted by CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) health care principals Cory Rutledge and Matt Wocken.

With their margins so narrow, SNFs have to be judicious about how they invest their dollars to improve, both Rutledge and Wocken stressed. But no matter what they focus on, they still can’t afford to ignore their ratings.

Skilled Nursing Facilities Can’t Just ‘Check the Box’ Under New Payroll Requirements

Aug 14, 2018

In Skilled Nursing News, Don Feige and others discuss the impact of CMS using PBJ for Five Star ratings and how providers are adapting.

The PBJ quality quest

Jul 27, 2018

In McKnights, Don Feige observes how CMS continues their quest to create a standardized, consistent measure of staffing across the industry by closing loopholes and clarifying gray areas.