LeadingAge Responds to Concerns About Reported Staffing Levels

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Kari Thurlow

Leadingage President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan has responded to concerns raised by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, on whether seniors and their families have accurate and complete information about the quality of nursing homes. 

Senator’s Wyden’s concerns are based on a report published by the New York Times earlier this summer regarding reported staffing levels in nursing homes under the new payroll-based journal (PBJ) system. 

LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to change its policy to adjust a nursing home’s Five Star rating as soon as the PBJ staffing data has been corrected rather than waiting until the end of the quarter. 

 “Star ratings that are incorrectly posted penalize facilities that in fact were sufficiently staffed, and, in the end, harm consumers by giving them bad information and limiting their ability to choose from all high performing facilities,” said Sloan. 

LeadingAge agrees that consumers and family members deserve the most timely and accurate information about the quality of nursing home care. In its letter to CMS, LeadingAge points out that while current CMS policy provides procedures for nursing homes to correct their data, lower posted staffing levels result in a nursing home’s loss of one star on its overall Five Star rating, regardless of whether the mistake was made by the nursing home or by CMS. The nursing home does not regain the star until the next quarterly posting period. This means that current and potential residents and their families may be given a false impression of a nursing home whose rating has been lowered due to a problem with PBJ posting. 

LeadingAge has argued that adjusting a nursing home’s Five Star rating would be consistent with the system’s purpose of providing transparent, accurate information and urged CMS to consider this change in current CMS policy.