DOH Issues 70-40 Survey to Hospital-Based Homes
Hospital-based homes that file RHCF-2 cost reports should have received an e-mail on Aug. 11 from the Department of Health (DOH) with the request to submit additional financial information for spending year 2022. The message included a customized Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) reminding providers that section 2828 of Public Health Law and Health Department Regulations at 10-NYCRR-415.34 require nursing homes to spend a minimum of 70% of revenue on direct resident care and a minimum of 40% of revenue on resident-facing staffing, while their total operating revenue must not exceed total operating and non-operating expenses by more than five percent. The DAL was accompanied by a reference copy of the survey and instructions. Please note that the survey must be completed and submitted on-line through the HERDS section of the Health Commerce System.
The extra step is required because the RHCF-2 report does not collect complete financial information. While homes that file the RHCF-4 report will have their compliance with minimum spending requirements determined through DOH analysis of their 2022 cost report data, DOH will use the data reported through the survey to do so for RHCF-2 filers. The 2022 spending year marks the first time that DOH will be testing compliance with minimum spending requirements for the purposes of determining potential penalties for homes that fail to meet the established thresholds.
Members may recall that the Department used their analysis of 2020 cost report data to examine facility spending when determining eligibility for “safe staffing” funding. RHCF-2 filers were asked to complete the survey at that time. Payment of the state share of safe staffing funding for hospital-based homes is still making its way through the approval process with no expected release date yet. The federal share of the “safe staffing” funding for both free-standing and hospital-based homes will be made once the state receives approval from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The survey can be accessed by logging onto Health Commerce System (HCS), selecting “My Applications” then “HERDS”. Click “Data Entry” and then as the activity select “2022 Hospital-based Nursing Home Direct Resident Care Spending Financial Information Survey”. Please let us know or e-mail NHSafeStaffing@health.ny.gov if you have questions.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841