Correlation to Medicare Ratings & Staffing

Kaiser Health News ran a story, Short-Staffed Nursing Homes See Drop In Medicare Ratings.  “In its update in April to Nursing Home Compare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave its lowest star rating for staffing — one star on its five-star scale — to 1,638 homes. Most were downgraded because their payroll records reported no registered-nurse hours at all for four days or more, while the remainder failed to submit their payroll records or sent data that couldn’t be verified through an audit.” The payroll records analyzed provide a good picture of various nursing homes and how they comply with the regulations. “CMS has been alarmed at the frequency of understaffing of registered nurses — the most highly trained category of nurses in a home — since the government last year began requiring homes to submit payroll records to verify staffing levels.” In addition KHN has an interactive tool, Look-Up: How Nursing Home Staffing Fluctuates Nationwide.