Support for Staffing Accountability Bill

National Citizens' Coalition for NURSING HOME REFORM	Diane Menio, President Elma Holder, Founder Donna R. Lenhoff, Esq., Executive Director
1424 16th Street, NW, Suite 202 Washington, DC 20036-2211	Phone: 202-332-2275 FAX: 202-332-2949 nursinghomeaction.org

Staffing Accountability Bill Would Provide Consumers Timely, Accurate Staffing Data

August 1, 2002--A bill to require nursing homes to file quarterly reports showing their nurse staffing levels has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA), John Breaux (D-LA), and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). The bill -- which was sought by NCCNHR and a group of consumer, labor, and professional organizations -- would also require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to include a Quality Measure for nurse staffing on the government’s Nursing Home Compare Web site.

“We don’t have accurate, timely information about how nursing homes are staffed,” said NCCNHR executive director Donna R. Lenhoff. “Passage of this bill would give consumers and policymakers information they need to monitor nurse staffing levels. It would also help consumers compare nursing homes according to the number of nurses and nurse aides to residents they employ.”

On January 1, 2003, nursing homes will be required under a law passed in 2000 to begin daily posting of the number of nurses and nursing assistants on each shift who provide direct care to residents. S. 2879 would require them to submit that information to CMS at least quarterly by July 2003. The state would audit the data as part of the regular inspection process to make sure it was accurate. The requirement is an interim measure, however, since the bill would also require CMS to report to Congress how it plans to implement a new system of collecting and reporting nurse staffing data based on research it is currently conducting.

Staffing levels in individual nursing homes would be reported on Nursing Home Compare. The bill would also create a Quality Measure for nurse staffing -- something CMS has resisted as part of the Nursing Home Quality Initiative it is launching nationwide this fall. CMS maintains that accurate staffing data are not available now to support a Quality Measure.

“Collecting this data will substantially improve consumers, researchers, and policymakers' access to accurate information about how facilities staff,” said Lenhoff. “The only data available currently is unaudited, self-reported information that research and experience have consistently shown to be inaccurate.

“We believe this bill has an excellent chance of passage this year,” Lenhoff added. “We hope those who are concerned about staffing in nursing homes will contact their senators asking them to support S. 2879, the Nursing Home Staffing Accountability Act.”

###

NCCNHR has provided consumer information, technical assistance, and a voice in Washington for nursing home residents, citizen advocacy groups, and long-term care ombudsmen for more than 25 years.