The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) confirmed Tuesday that it is currently reviewing a year-long study to determine “policy direction” and cost implications of its proposed federal staffing mandate.
The study includes potential barriers to and unintended consequences of staffing recommendations, Jean Moody-Williams said during a call to stakeholders. Moody-Williams serves as deputy director at the CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality.
Moody-WIlliams rehashed the multifaceted nature of the study, stating that it includes a literature review with quantitative analysis and cost analysis as well as qualitative data from nursing home site visits.
There was no indication that the study would be released to the public, only that CMS plans to issue proposed federal minimum staffing requirements this spring. Once CMS issues its proposal for minimum staffing requirements, that proposal will undergo a notice-and-comment rulemaking process. This will be another opportunity for industry stakeholders to weigh in, the agency said.
The CMS call came on the heels of a letter from federal lawmakers urging the agency to reconsider a one-size-fits-all staffing mandate.
CMS first revealed the study components last summer. Stakeholder commentary was pulled from the SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS), and listening sessions were held in August as the agency went into greater detail on its study.
Qualitative components of the study are made up of primary data collected during site visits, like interviews, surveys and observation data. Meanwhile, quantitative analysis consists of Medicare Payroll-based Journal (PBJ) data, Minimum Data Set (MDS) and Medicare claims, the agency said.
Federal law currently requires that nursing homes provide 24-hour licensed nursing services, using the services of a registered nurse (RN) for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, seven days a week.
Operators have been conducting annual facility assessments to take into account resident needs and staff ability to provide care.
Skilled nursing operators and the organizations that represent them have, since the initiative was announced in February, said that they support appropriate staffing levels, but the ongoing staffing crisis and lack of federal or state dollars leaves them unable to support the initiative as is.
Other nursing home topics outlined during the call included recent steps to increase transparency of facility information by publicly displaying disputed survey citations, and conducting off-site audits of coding residents with schizophrenia.
George Mills, deputy director of the CMS Center for Program Integrity (CPI), said his team has worked to continue supporting the Biden administration in its ownership transparency and clinical quality initiatives.
“CPI continues to look for additional methods of ensuring ownership transparency above and beyond what we’ve already done,” Mills said. “CPI will continue to perform nursing home oversight; we work collaboratively with other components in the agency doing data analysis on the use of psychotropic drugs, which can cause very serious side effects.”
Companies featured in this article:
