By Hugo Elliot
Covid-19 has affected industries worldwide; the most industry which has been affected is the healthcare industry which has been turned upside down by the pandemic. The Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) came up with reporting criteria revolving around direct care staffing and census information; this reporting was known as Payroll-Based Journal report. This report is required under section 6106 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); this implies that health facilities must submit comprehensive information about the staff working in direct care and, to some extent, may include agency and contract staff.
The CMS is mainly utilizing the data obtained from the Payroll-Based Journal to analyze the Nursing Home Compare website; this website will allow the public to care the quality of care at nursing facilities.
Achievements of CMS from PBJ Reporting
This report will increase accuracy, validation, and direct transparency to the direct care industry. It is expected that each company should have 45 days from the onset of another quarter to submit payroll data for the previous quarter. Requirements and details of what to submit relating to PBJ can also be located on the CMS website.
The Type of Information which is recorded in the PBJ
Before the company has submitted the report is of importance to know what is to be included in the report. Each individual registered employee has their specific data. Some of the data expected to be seen in the PBJ are,
- Identity card for each employee which is unique
- The date when the employee was hired
- The date when the contract will be terminated
- The pay type code
There is also information which is required for direct care workers include,
- The hours worked per day, and the date worked
- Their job title code and their job category code
- The specific date and workday
On most occasions, if the contractor is paid directly by Medicare, the hours worked by the same will not be included in the PBJ reporting submission.
Some other things to note and to include in the PBJ submission are as highlighted below.
- Some of the employees have performed different duties in a day, and your system can record that; the CMs usually allow you to include and submit this data.
- The CMS will require a report that clearly stipulates the hours worked and their actual dates; for instance, an employee works on night shifts that start at 23:00hours on one day and end at 06:00hours the following day. This info will be two entries that are, 2hours for the first day and 5hours for the second day.
- The required time to work for staff Is 40 hours; if an employee works, for instance, 50 hours, they will only record 40hours of work under PBJ as they will be paid for 40 hours.
What are the Benefits of Data collected from Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) reporting to the public?
The report has a massive number of benefits obtained from the PBJ report; first, all the data collected will create the 5star for direct care providers.
