On January 7, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a memorandum stating that nursing home staff turnover and weekend staffing will be posted on the Medicare.gov Care Compare public website. The information will be added to the website in January 2022 and used in the Nursing Home Five Star Quality Rating System beginning in July 2022.
The memorandum summary specifics include:
- Weekend Staffing: The level of total nurse and registered nurse (RN) staffing on weekends provided by each nursing home over a quarter.
- Staff Turnover: The percent of nursing staff and number of administrators who stopped working at the nursing home over a 12-month period.
- Posting Detailed Staffing Data: CMS will begin posting the submitted employee-level staffing data for all nursing homes.
- Reminder for Nursing Homes to Link Employee Identifiers when they are changed due to the changes in the facility’s staffing data systems. Failure to create this link can make it seem that the employees left the organization, not that the payroll system identifiers were merely revised.
The new data posting is intended to enhance information available to consumers, residents, and their families to help support their healthcare decisions and is intended to incentivize quality improvement among nursing homes.
The QSO memorandum can be accessed at: QSO-22-08-NH (cms.gov).
Issue:
Now, more than ever, it is essential to have adequate staffing in all nursing facilities, including on weekends. Adequate staffing has been directly linked to improved resident care and resident satisfaction, and can only be achieved if turnover of staff is low. As difficult as it is at this time to find qualified staff and to keep them, leadership should discuss innovative and effective methods for increasing and retaining staff.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures on recruiting and retaining staff. Update your policies as needed.
- Train staff who are responsible for hiring to develop innovative and effective ways to recruit and retain staff. Document that these trainings occurred and file in each appropriate employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit staff opinions to learn their satisfaction with their jobs, and seek their input on how to achieve adequate staffing.
