Published: March 9, 2021
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CMS has taken important steps to build a new source for data on nursing home staffing and to use these data to better inform consumers and improve nursing home oversight. CMS provides the public with some of this staffing information on the Care Compare website. There, consumers can use Staffing Star Ratings to compare nurse staffing between nursing homes. Additionally, CMS has implemented a robust process to ensure the reliability of this nurse staffing information.

However, CMS has opportunities to better use the staffing information that nursing homes report. Specifically, the staffing information that CMS provides on Care Compare could be more useful to consumers if it included data on nurse staff turnover and tenure, as required by Federal law. CMS reported that the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its progress to implement these requirements.

Office of the Inspector General. “CMS Use of Data on Nursing Home Staffing: Progress and Opportunities To Do More” Department of Health and Human Services, OEI-04-18-00450. 9 March 2021.