AHCA/NCAL COVID-19 Updates | CMS Adds Staffing Measures to Five Star & OSHA Vaccine Implementation Begins Today
CMS Adds Staffing Measures to Five Star
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted QSO memo 22-08-NH last week indicating that it will begin posting staffing turnover and weekend staffing levels for each nursing home on the Medicare.gov Care Compare website in January and add the measures to staffing domain of Five Star Rating system in July 2022.
- Weekend Staffing: The level of total nurse (RN, LPN & CNA) and registered nurse (RN) staffing on weekends provided by each nursing home over a quarter. This will be reported as average hours worked per resident per day on weekends.
- Staff Turnover:
- The percent of RN staff that left the facility over the last year.
- The percent of total nurse staff that have left the facility over the last year.
- The number of administrators that have left the facility over the last year.
The technical specifications for weekend staffing and staff turnover measures will be included in the Five Star Rating System Technical Users’ Guide on January 14, 2022.
Facilities must link employee identifiers to ensure their turnover measures are accurate. Instructions and templates for linking employee identifiers are provided in the memo.
Important COVID-19 Updates
Attention All Providers: OSHA Vaccination and Testing Compliance Begins Today, January 10: With OSHA withdrawing the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), the OSHA Vaccination and Testing ETS now applies to all employers with 100 or more employees. This includes assisted living, skilled nursing facilities, and other long term and health care providers. Read More
How to Implement CDC Contingency and Crisis Strategies to Mitigate Staffing Shortages: We know that many LTC facilities around the country are struggling with staffing shortages due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. The CDC provides contingency and crisis capacity standards to help mitigate staffing shortages created by staff testing positive or PPE shortages. Read More
NYSHFA/NYSCAL CONTACTS:
Jackie Pappalardi, RN, BSN
Executive Director
518-462-4800 x16
Lisa Volk, RN, B.P.S., LNHA
Director, Clinical & Quality Services
518-462-4800 x15
