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.

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.