Collection of Staffing Data for Long Term Care Facilities

On April 10, 2015, CMS issued a Survey & Certification Memorandum entitled Implementation of Section 6106 of the Affordable Care Act – Collection of Staffing Data for Long Term Care Facilities.  CMS has created a system for centers to submit staffing and census information and it is called the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ). The PBJ is intended to meet the criteria outlined in the Affordable Care Act for electronic submission of direct care staffing information.  CMS intends to collect staffing and census data on a voluntary basis beginning October 1, 2015. All nursing centers will be required to submit staffing and census data using the PBJ beginning July 1, 2016.  The memorandum includes a link to access additional information about the system and information specifically for vendors or software developers. Additional information that is currently available for providers includes a Policy Manual for the PBJ. 

We encourage members to review the information on the PBJ website as well as the PBJ Policy Manual and send any questions or concerns directly to nhstaffing@cms.hhs.gov.  Please copy Zach Cattell (zcattell@ihca.org) or Lyn Bentley (lbentley@ahca.org) on any email you may send to CMS.