Nursing Home News 2026August14
Life Safety Update
State Fire Marshal has provided a
memo regarding Personal Electrical Devices in long term care settings under the preview of the Life Safety Code. This memo clarifies that residents will be able to use personal electronics (such as lamps, laptops and phone chargers) within six feet of the bed without being in violation of Section 10.4.2.2 of the Life Safety Code. These devices no longer require a three-prong or double insulated designation. Facilities must conduct an annual visual inspection and document that devices are in proper working order and are not in need of repair. An inspection must also be conducted when a resident moves in or moves to a new room within the facility. These devices can be plugged directly into the wall or into an approved power tap (60601-1 or 1363A). Extension cords and unapproved power strips should still be avoided. We appreciate the continued follow up on this concern and the willingness of the Fire Marshal to update the understanding of the use of personal electronics in long-term care settings.
New SNF Reports Now Available in LeadingAge Report Portal.
New Five-Star Reports are now available for nursing home members in the LeadingAge Report Portal. These reports are based on the July 29 update to Nursing Home Care Compare data and include changes to all three domains – Health Inspections, Staffing, and Quality Measures – as well as the overall Five-Star rating. Of note, there is a change this quarter to ratings thresholds for the Quality Measures domain; this change may impact members’ Quality Measures domain ratings. This change is based on a 2019 policy that states that ratings thresholds will be updated at half the rate of the previous time period’s improvement.
Read more on this policy here. Based on this policy, nursing homes can expect another update to quality measures ratings thresholds with the January 2027 quarterly refresh if performance continues to improve. LeadingAge members can access their reports on the
LeadingAge Report Portal. The next quarterly refresh of the Five-Star Quality Rating System will occur on October 28.
PBJ Reporting Due August 14; Last Submission to QIES
Nursing homes must submit Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data for Fiscal Year 2026 Quarter 3 by August 14. As noted in a July 14 memo from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Fiscal Quarter 3 will be the last quarter for which nursing homes submit PBJ data through QIES. Beginning on August 17, 2026 for Fiscal Quarter 4, nursing homes will submit all data through iQIES. Remember that no data submitted after the August 14 reporting deadline will be accepted for calculating quality measures for the Five Star Quality Rating System and the Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP). Nursing homes should submit in advance of the August 14 deadline and run applicable reports through QIES/CASPER to ensure that data has been received and appears as the nursing home expects. CMS memo QSO-26-12-NH provides information on how these reports will be run in iQIES following the August 17 transition.










