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A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has introduced a groundbreaking tool to help nursing homes align their staffing requirements with the needs of their residents. Created by a team of researchers, including Charlene Harrington, RN, PhD, from the University of California, the study proposes using a nursing home's case-mix index for setting expected daily nurse staffing levels. Currently, nine out of ten nursing homes fail to meet these new benchmarks.
This innovative method suggests that nursing homes could be evaluated based on their ability to meet the specific needs of their patients, rather than relying on national averages. Under the Patient Driven Payment Model, CMS adjusts payments based on residents’ needs categorized across 25 letter-based HIPPS codes. This aligns financial incentives with care requirements, encouraging nursing homes to match their staffing decisions with patient acuity.
Despite the federal staffing mandate setting a minimum standard of daily nursing care hours, the new approach indicates that many facilities fall short of meeting individual resident needs. This novel methodology, as co-author Richard Mollot emphasizes, empowers families, policymakers, and operators to better assess a facility's staffing adequacy.
For more insights into this innovative staffing model, visit the original article: [Study offers roadmap for nursing home staffing decisions based on case-mix, leverage for CMS](Source).
Navigating Nursing Home Staffing: A New Approach Leveraging CMS Standards
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has introduced a groundbreaking tool to help nursing homes align their staffing requirements with the needs of their residents. Created by a team of researchers, including Charlene Harrington, RN, PhD, from the University of California, the study proposes using a nursing home's case-mix index for setting expected daily nurse staffing levels. Currently, nine out of ten nursing homes fail to meet these new benchmarks.
This innovative method suggests that nursing homes could be evaluated based on their ability to meet the specific needs of their patients, rather than relying on national averages. Under the Patient Driven Payment Model, CMS adjusts payments based on residents’ needs categorized across 25 letter-based HIPPS codes. This aligns financial incentives with care requirements, encouraging nursing homes to match their staffing decisions with patient acuity.
Despite the federal staffing mandate setting a minimum standard of daily nursing care hours, the new approach indicates that many facilities fall short of meeting individual resident needs. This novel methodology, as co-author Richard Mollot emphasizes, empowers families, policymakers, and operators to better assess a facility's staffing adequacy.
For more insights into this innovative staffing model, visit the original article: [Study offers roadmap for nursing home staffing decisions based on case-mix, leverage for CMS](Source).