On October 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opened registration for the voluntary period to participate in electronic submission of payroll data, including staff start and end dates (for calculating staff retention and turnover), and census data.  The voluntary period from October 1, 2015 until required submission of this data beginning on July 1, 2016 is the only time that providers will have the opportunity to “test” the process and determine how their payroll system interfaces with the Payroll-Based Journal.

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) is encouraging members to consider registering for the voluntary submission period because it seems unlikely that CMS will make significant changes to the process or system before its use becomes mandatory.

Important information from CMS about the registration process including links for on-line training as well as to other Payroll-Based Journal resources is available on the Staffing Data Collection PBJ website.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires CMS to collect electronic staffing data from nursing centers.  The ACA requires this data to be auditable and verifiable.  The information is intended to collect direct care staff (employed and contracted), employee turnover and tenure, and must include census data and case mix.  Earlier this year, CMS announced they would require this information to be submitted by all nursing centers starting in July 2016.

When the required submission process begins, CMS will continue to require providers to submit Forms CMS 671 & CMS 672 at the time of survey. The data from these forms will be used in calculating the Staffing Domain of the Five Star Rating System until late 2017 or early 2018.

If you have questions, contact Lyn Bentley or Urvi Patel at AHCA.