02/10/2022
PBJ submission deadline reminder is February 14
Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data for October 1 through December 31 is due by February 14, 2022. Submissions must be received by the end of the forty-fifth calendar day by 11:59 PM, after the last day in each fiscal quarter to be considered timely. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends running staffing reports in CASPER prior to the submission deadline to ensure the accuracy and completeness of submissions. Please remember, the Final File Validation Report verifies that the submission was successful. If a facility needs assistance with the PBJ quarterly submission and the deadline falls on a weekend, the facility must contact the QIES/iQIES Service Center no later than the Friday before the submission deadline, as the Service Center will be unavailable to assist on the weekend. More information about PBJ can be found on the following webpages:
CMS addresses Kronos issues
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has alerted nursing homes that they will not penalize facilities using Kronos on February 14 as long as they follow the directives provided in the following Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) email:
On December 11, 2021, Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG), a workforce management software company used by many nursing homes for their Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) submission, was the victim of a ransomware attack. CMS is aware of the attack and the impact on at least some of those facilities that rely on UKG for the staffing data files that they submit quarterly to meet PBJ requirements.
CMS will not penalize (i.e., downgrade) affected facilities that miss the February 14, 2022 PBJ submission deadline or submit incomplete information for that quarter. Facilities that were not affected by the ransomware attack are still required to submit PBJ data on or before the February 14 deadline.
If a facility is a client of UKG and has been affected by the ransomware attack, the facility will need to send the following information to NHStaffing@cms.hhs.gov no later than March 1, 2022:
- Facility Name and Address
- Facility Contact Name and Phone Number
- Facility CMS Certification Number (CCN)
- Kronos Solution ID
All affected facilities should submit the data that is available for FY 2022 Quarter 1 (October 1 – December 31, 2021). If a facility reports this data, to the extent available prior to the February 14 deadline, CMS will utilize this information to calculate the Staffing Star rating. Facilities will not be penalized for any missing data. If a facility is not able to submit any nursing data for the quarter by the February 14 deadline, the facility’s Staffing Star rating will be suppressed for the quarter (displaying ‘Not Available’ on the Care Compare website beginning with the April 2022 refresh).
Furthermore, facilities who do not submit complete staffing data by February 14 should still submit the full FY 2022 Q1 (October 1 – December 31, 2021) data, to the extent available, and must submit data from October 1 through December 10, 2021, by March 31, 2022. Facilities will not be penalized for missing data from December 11 – December 31, 2021. While the FY 2022 Quarter 1 data will not be utilized to update the facility’s Staffing Star rating for the April 2022 refresh, it will be utilized in the future to calculate turnover measures.
Facilities will be expected to submit data for FY 2022 Q2 (January 1 – March 31, 2022) by the May 15, 2022 deadline. CMS will continue to monitor the situation and work with facilities on this issue.
For questions about this issue, please email NHStaffing@cms.hhs.gov.
