Numerous media outlets have covered the news that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has changed the Five-Star ratings for thousands of nursing centers across the country because the ratings now incorporate staffing data from the payroll-based journal (PBJ) system.  AHCA/NCAL has provided talking points to help you respond to any inquires.

Key messages:

• Adequate staffing is only one of several important elements of providing quality care. While we have always supported adequate staffing as a key element of quality care, judging the quality of a nursing home based solely on staffing is misguided. There are centers with high staffing levels and poor outcomes and numerous deficiencies and there are centers with low staffing with good inspection reports and good quality outcomes.

• It is important to look at health outcomes when assessing the quality of care provided. Three clinical outcome measures that can be utilized to assess quality of care are: rehospitalizations, discharge to community and antipsychotic use. There are other factors that also contribute to quality, like customer satisfaction.

• The number of staff is important, but the staff quality is important as well. Staff training, consistent assignment, and low staff turnover are three important elements that contribute to quality staffing.

• Recruiting and retaining staff is a significant challenge for many long term care providers.

• Some staffing gaps (RNs on duty, for example) are a result of the way the data is collected.

• In April, CMS updated the staffing measures posted on Nursing Home Compare, which are used to calculate Five-Star ratings. These new measures are calculated differently than in the past and incorporate new staffing data submitted through PBJ. These new measures are fundamentally different than the old measures and comparisons between the two are not meaningful.

Click here to view the complete talking points (AHCA login required).  The talking points include a section on Center-Focused Questions and Answers that you can use to respond to any direct questions you may have received.