CMS Issues Updated Five-Star Technical Users’ Guide
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released an updated Five-Star Technical Users’ Guide that describes the newest methodologies for calculating nursing home ratings that will be used at the Jan. 27th refresh. The health inspection rating freeze has ended and includes surveys after March 3, 2020. Infection control survey deficiency data is included in the rating calculation similar to how complaint surveys are counted. Staffing data and ratings are based on Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data for third quarter 2020 (July, August, September) that was due by Nov. 14th. Facilities that did not meet that deadline or that qualified for the one-star staffing penalty will have their staffing rating suppressed. The quality measures rating is updated using all the quality measures except the short-stay pressure ulcer and discharge to community measures. The quality measure ratings reflect data from July 2019 through June 2020. Look for an email link to your Five-Star Analysis Report due following the January refresh. If you have questions regarding how your Five-Star rating was calculated, contact Susan Chenail at schenail@leadingageny.org.
Contact: Susan Chenail, schenail@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 ext. 116