CMS is waiving 42 CFR 483.70(q) to provide relief to long term care facilities on the requirements for submitting staffing data through the Payroll-Based Journal system. This means that staffing data for the first quarter of 2020 (1/1/20 – 3/31/20) will not need to be submitted for the May 15, 2020 deadline, nor will this data need to be submitted later.

At present, there is no additional information as to how long this waiver will remain in place and providers should continue to collect staffing data, as CMS has only waived submission of data but not the collection of the data.