Nursing Homes Staffing Mandate Requests Due This Week

The deadline to request a redetermination or penalty reduction in response to nursing home minimum staffing non-compliance notices is fast approaching. For most facilities, the deadline will be Thursday, Aug. 17. All nursing homes should have received a notice through the HCDMS indicating that they are either in compliance or not in compliance with the nursing home minimum staffing requirements for the second quarter of 2022. All nursing homes that received a notice of non-compliance should file a request for redetermination or penalty reduction.

The Department of Health (DOH) has told LeadingAge New York that requests for redetermination or penalty reduction “are due 10 business days after the dissemination date of the notification”, and “[t]he dissemination date is Day 0.” We interpret this to mean that the “Sent” date of the email notification alerting facilities to a file in the recipient’s HCDMS account is “Day 0.” Most facilities received an email that was sent on Aug. 3, triggering an Aug. 17 deadline to respond. Nevertheless, some members reported that they were told by DOH staff that the deadline is Aug. 16.

Any nursing home that received a notice of non-compliance should request either a redetermination (if they believe there is an error in their PBJ data or in the compliance calculation) or a reduction in penalties, by the 10-business-day deadline. The COVID public health emergency, health care staffing emergency, and acute labor supply shortage provide grounds for a reduction in penalties for facilities that submit requests along with the supporting documentation. Facilities that request a redetermination may also request a reduction in penalties – generally after the DOH decision on the redetermination.

The online platform does not allow users to save partially-completed forms. However, DOH staff have said that, as long as the form is kept open in the browser, information typed in the form and documents uploaded will not be lost. Once a form is submitted, users can correct entries only by contacting the “Nursing Home Safe Staffing” mailbox (nhsafestaffing@health.ny.gov) and requesting the opportunity to correct. Users should include “urgent” in the subject line. After submission, users should receive a confirmation email with a copy of their request form. Members may contact DOH at nhsafestaffing@health.ny.gov with questions.

The following are links to the DOH and LeadingAge NY resources:

Contact Karen Lipson (klipson@leadingageny.org) or Darius Kirstein (dkirstein@leadingageny.org).