HHS Watchdog To Probe Enforcement Of Nursing Home Staffing Standards

The inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services this month launched an examination into federal oversight of skilled nursing facilities amid signs some homes aren’t meeting Medicare’s minimum staffing requirements.

The review comes on the heels of a Kaiser Health News and New York Times investigation that found nearly 1,400 nursing homes report having fewer registered nurses on duty than the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires or failed to provide reliable staffing information to the government.

The Office of Inspector General said it would examine the staffing data nursing homes submit to the government through CMS’ new system that uses payroll records.