Nursing Home News 2026July3

New Five Star Reports are now available for nursing home members in the LeadingAge Report Portal. These reports are based on the June 24 update to Nursing Home Care Compare. As this is only a monthly update, rather than a quarterly refresh, providers may see a change in their Health Inspection scores but Staffing and Quality Measures will not change. 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 July 29.

LeadingAge Comments to ONC on Requiring Enhanced and Accurate Lists (REAL) of Health Providers Act

On June 29, 2026, LeadingAge submitted comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), offering recommendations and highlighting concerns related to implementation of the Requiring Enhanced and Accurate Lists (REAL) of Health Providers Act. Our primary recommendation encourages CMS to use its existing provider databases such as Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOs) as a single source of truth and push that data out to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for their directory updates rather than requiring providers to submit quarterly recertifications to MA plans. The full comment letter can be accessed here and an article will be available on June 30 on the LeadingAge website.

Just Released! Nursing Home Survey Trends and Tools Webinar

Join us for a deep dive into current survey trends happening in Nursing Home services in Nebraska and opportunities members have to review data. We will review the state trends and look at ways to improve on practices that are negatively impacting providers in the state. CEO, Kierstin Reed will review the top 5 citations for Nursing Homes in Nebraska and provide insight into the cause and potential solutions to these areas.

We will also take a look at the LeadingAge Quality Metrics tools and the trend reports that are available to all LeadingAge Nebraska members, in addition to your 5 Star Analysis Report. The LeadingAge Quality Metrics system contains three tools, Nursing Home Quality Metrics, which analyzes quality metrics such as 5-star ratings, staffing, quality measures, and deficiencies in skilled nursing facilities using the most current publicly reported Nursing Home Compare data; and Home Health Quality Metrics, which analyzes quality metrics in categories such as Managing Daily Activities, Managing Pain and Treating Symptoms, Treating Wounds and Preventing Pressure Sores, Preventing Harm, Preventing Unplanned Hospital Care and Patient Satisfaction Survey results using the most current publicly reported Home Health Compare data and Hospice Quality Metrics, which studies quality measures in categories such as family experience of care and quality of patient care using the most current publicly reported Hospice Compare data.

Join us to learn what is happening in Nebraska survey and how to utilize these tools to benchmark your services and improve performance.

OIG Finds Errors in PBJ Reporting

An audit from the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that payroll-based journal (PBJ) reporting by nursing homes is not always accurate. In a report released June 18, OIG stated that nearly half of all sample items reviewed were not supported in accordance with federal requirements. Inaccuracies were due to a number of issues including reporting hours that were not worked; not reporting hours that were worked and paid for; reporting hours that were not paid; reporting hours that were unreportable including meal breaks, training and other hours when staff were not available to perform their primary role, and off-site hours; and reporting hours for which the nurses working were not properly licensed. OIG concluded that CMS’s processes were not effective in ensuring the accuracy of PBJ reporting and made four recommendations including recommendations to require PBJ auditors to verify whether nursing homes took corrective actions on findings from PBJ audits, educate nursing homes on updated guidance, and regularly communicate with nursing homes the trends identified through PBJ audits. Read the full report of findings and recommendations here.

< Older Post

Newer Post >