DataPoint: KFF Data Highlights Need for Significant Investment in Nursing Home Staff
(Dec. 17, 2024) Despite the number of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-certified nursing homes dropping by 5 percent between July 2015 and July 2024 and a 10 percent decline in total nursing home residents, the average daily nursing care hours per resident day (HPRD) decreased by 8 percent from 4.13 HPRD to 3.80 HPRD. The average number of deficiencies per facility also increased by 40 percent during this time period from 6.8 deficiencies per survey to 9.5. This data was published by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) on Dec. 6th in a brief titled A Look at Nursing Facility Characteristics Between 2015 and 2024. The findings of the brief suggest that better-staffed nursing homes are typically cited for fewer deficiencies or violations of federal regulations, which could indicate a relationship between the increase in deficiencies and the decrease in staffing levels over the same time period. The staffing decrease over the observation period is unsurprising given the acute staffing crisis which is making it near impossible for NYS homes to comply with safe staffing requirements. Along with this call to action, KFF also observes that despite ownership and payer type remaining steady on the national level during the 2015-2024 observation period, there has been increased scrutiny toward the 72 percent of homes that bear the “for-profit” designation due to private equity firms purchasing nursing facilities and rendering lower-quality care in pursuit of increased profits. NYS has seen a decline in the presence of not-for-profit homes, which could increase vulnerability to private equity controlling a large stake of homes if this trend continues. To read the full brief from KFF, click here.
Contact: Eric Dumas, edumas@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8851