Here’s a Shock (Not) – When Government’s “Star Rating” Analysis Shifts to Payroll Data, Ratings Plummet for Thousands of Nursing Homes Who Had Been Gaming the System.

Close to 1,400 nursing homes lose a rating star due to new staffing info

For years, the Nursing Home industry, including Nursing Homes in Sacramento have been gaming the system by falsely reporting how many employees (and the various type of employees) who were working.  The Federal Government used this information to assess what a Sacramento Nursing home would be awarded for their “Star Rating.”  The higher the staffing, the better the rating.  Now, instead of relying on fraudulent reports of staffing, the federal government is requiring nursing homes to provide their staffing based on its PAYROLL data.  Guess what happened?

Below is a link to an article from McKnight’s about 1400 snfs losing a staffing star with payroll based data.  Sit down because here’s a shock.  They also cite a study Kaiser did stating:

“Kaiser’s analysis found that for-profit nursing homes had 16% fewer staff than nonprofits. It also found that for-profits had one registered nurse for every 43 residents, compared to one RN to every 28 residents at nonprofit facilities. On weekends on average, there were 11% fewer nurses providing direct care and 8% fewer aides, Kaiser reported. On the best-staffed days, one certified nursing assistant or aide oversaw nine residents on average, but on the worst-staffed days, an aide was responsible for 16 residents.”