The first Mandatory Reporting Period for Payroll Based Journaling (PBJ) was November 14th. Hopefully everyone has met this deadline and has found their footing with the important requirement. Clifton Larson Allen gave a great presentation at last week’s Finance and Reimbursement Workshop. Some important points to keep in mind are:
- This is a report of your direct care staffing on a daily basis. The definition of direct care staff is expanded for PBJ. You will want to make sure you are taking credit for some staffing that you haven’t before on your staffing submission during the survey process. For example, if you employ a Chaplain, their time could be considered direct care through Social Services or maybe Activities. Also drivers could be considered direct care. The important thing is to assess all of your staff and what they are really doing and whether it could be considered direct care. CMS has indicated that they will be auditing this down the line, so document your rationale and be consistent.
- Only report on certified beds – If you have beds that are not certified, don’t include the staffing for those beds in the submission. CMS is only looking for data on the certified portion of your building.
- Hire/Termination Dates are important – Why does CMS want this? Because they will also begin to use this data for retention/turnover calculations. You will need this information for all contracted employees also, so work with your therapy and other contractors to keep up with this.
- Use of a payroll processing company helps – Most of the providers attending the Workshop indicated that they are using a payroll processor to assist with PBJ. These processors have prepared for this and are a big help in gathering the data as well as submitting. They also provide management reports so that providers can internally assess how their staffing levels will affect their 5 star rating and adjust accordingly.
If you are struggling with PBJ, keep in mind that LeadingAge National has negotiated a discount for members with OnShift. For more information contact Lisa Stuever at reimbursement@LeadingAgeKansas.org.
