This month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin using Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) electronic staffing data to calculate the nursing and physical therapy (PT) staffing measures, as well as the Five Star Quality Rating System staffing ratings, on Nursing Home Compare, according to CMS survey-and-certification memo QSO-18-17-NH. By May 1 at the latest, CMS will update the Five Star Technical Users’ Guide to include the technical specifications for the updated staffing measures and ratings’ methodology, and effective June 1, providers will no longer have to complete the staffing section of the CMS-671 although the rest of the form will still need to be completed for survey.

Many directors of nursing services (DNSs) should see some changes in their staffing measures and Five Star staffing ratings, says Suzy Harvey, RN-BC, RAC-CT, managing consultant for BKD in Springfield, MO.

Valued-based purchasing is coming to long-term care facilities nationwide—and it’ll be here before you know it.

This payment model is designed to support the practice of resident-centered care—which many long-term care facilities have already implemented to some degree. Still, in an industry with deep traditional roots, particularly in regard to reimbursements, the shift in payment model may be jarring—and preparing for the change may be overwhelming.

But it doesn’t need to be.

With the help of a few tools and a little advance planning, you can help make your facility’s transition to value-based care a simple one.

“It's important that we stay ahead of the curve, and that's always a challenge,” says Michelle Bulger.

Bulger, alongside Patty Embree, vice president of innovation at Vincentian Collaborative System, will be co-instructing a conference session at the 2018 AADNS annual conference in National Harbor, MD, on this very subject. The June 29 session, called “Making the Move to Value-Based Care,” will shed light on practical, actionable steps and tools you can implement within your own facility today to prepare for this coming change.

Have you ever worked for a boss who kept calm and positive even when under tremendous pressure? If so, you probably remember how that person’s attitude impacted the stress-filled environment in a very positive way.

Nurse leaders carry an enormous amount of responsibility for multiple tasks in long-term care: budget, documentation, supervision, equipment, census, quality care, survey readiness, staffing—and the list goes on and on. It can be difficult to keep calm and remain positive. Some days, that’s almost impossible! When all these tasks and responsibilities are swirling about in the leader’s head, it results in enormous amounts of stress and negatively impacts both the leader and the working environment. Even though we may not walk around talking negatively, our body language often ensures that we’re wearing our heart on our sleeve. Dementia experts tell us that residents living with memory loss are often experts at reading body language. So, the people we are most passionate about caring for can be negatively impacted by our attitude.