CMS Expected to Post Weekend Staffing and Turnover Data to Care Compare This Week

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Jonathan Lips

As of Wednesday, Jan. 26, CMS is posting new information to the public-facing Care Compare website for nursing homes.

First, CMS has added data about the level of weekend RN staffing and total nurse staffing (e.g., RN, LPN, and CNA), reported in terms of the average number of RN and total nurse hours worked per resident per day on weekends. As presented, the data compares a specific facility’s weekend staffing to the national average and the Minnesota average.

Second, Care Compare now also displays turnover data, as shown by:

• The percent of nurse staff that left the facility over the last year;
• The percent of total nurse staff that has left the facility over the last year; and
• The number of administrators that have left the facility over the last year.

The website explains the data this way: "Staff turnover is the percent of nursing staff or number of administrators that stop working in a facility within a given year. Low turnover indicates that facilities generally retain their staff for longer periods. Lower turnover is preferred because staff who work in facilities for longer periods may become more familiar with the residents and the facility's operating procedures."

On Jan. 25, LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan sent a letter to CMS Administrator Brooks-LaSure advocating to delay posting data on nursing home staffing and implementing staffing quality measures later this year. While supportive of transparency around the staffing issues facing nursing homes and other providers, LeadingAge has heard from members across the country that this action by CMS will do nothing but unnecessarily subject nursing homes to public scrutiny and criticism over a problem that impacts the entire economy.

"Workforce needs are at crisis levels in many sectors of our economy. Yet nursing homes, for a variety of reasons, often face extreme scrutiny over staffing," the letter noted. "Our workforce challenges are no secret and posting fresh data on staffing needs in nursing homes will not solve the problem. We assure you that our mission-driven providers would be happy to hire qualified staff so that the Director of Nursing could stop doing med pass and the Administrator could stop taking on additional shifts to relieve her CNA staff. The workers are simply not there. Do not single out nursing homes by highlighting a problem that impacts every sector."

Despite the LeadingAge advocacy, the weekend staffing and turnover data are live. We encourage each of our care center members to check its Care Compare profile to gain visibility into how the data is displayed and confirm its accuracy.

Five-Star Quality Rating System. In addition to posting new data to Care Compare for the information of consumers, beginning in July 2022, CMS will also add the measure of total nurse staffing on weekends and the three turnover data elements listed above to the staffing domain of the Nursing Home Five Star Quality Rating System. The technical specifications for weekend staffing and staff turnover measures are found in a January 2022 revision to the Five Star Rating System Technical Users’ Guide, beginning on page 29 of the document.

We will work to provide additional analysis for members in the weeks ahead.