Nursing home providers must resume submission of payroll-based journal (PBJ) staffing data by the end of this week. While an 1135 federal blanket waiver related to the COVID-19 public health emergency had previously suspended these data submissions, this waiver was terminated by CMS effective June 25. Nursing home providers must submit PBJ data for the second quarter of calendar year 2020, April – June, by Friday, August 14. CMS is also encouraging providers to submit PBJ data for the first calendar quarter of 2020, though this data is not required. Calendar quarter 2 staffing data will be available on Nursing Home Compare, and subsequently calculated in the staffing domain of the Five-Star Quality Rating System, with the next regularly scheduled update for this domain in October 2020. More information on the termination of this waiver and the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on the five-star rating system are available here.
