CMS Begins Roll-Out of LTC Staffing-Data Collection Program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun to formally roll out a new electronic system that will allow long-term care (LTC) facilities to more easily submit staffing information, part of an initiative of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The system, known as the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ), allows LTC facilities to directly submit information about their staff members’ tenures, hours worked, and job titles (including certified nursing aide) to CMS.

CMS will use that information to monitor facilities’ turnover and retention rates, both of which have been linked to better quality of care for consumers. That information will be available through CMS’s Nursing Home Compare and Nursing Home Five Star Quality Rating System tools.

Under an ACA provision, LTC facilities will be required to submit quarterly staffing information to CMS. Facilities will have the option of entering information directly into PBJ or using its automated function, which relies on payroll information.

Voluntary compliance with PBJ begins in October; all LTC facilities are required to participate by July 2016.

CMS will continually update its PBJ webpage with further information as the compliance dates grow nearer.

— by Matthew Ozga