Get Ready for the August 14 Payroll-Based Journal Deadline

Staffing data for Q2 2024, April 1 – June 30, 2024, is due by 11:59 PM EST on August 14. Skilled nursing providers are advised to submit their data early and consult the staffing reports in CASPER to confirm the accuracy and completeness of their submissions.

Here are five reminders to help you in submitting your Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data:

1. Each staff member (employed directly or contract) should have a unique employee ID assigned to them. Do not utilize the same employee ID for more than one individual. The 1702D Individual Daily Staffing Report provides a list of staffing hours per employee per day. This can be utilized to ensure that an employee ID is not accidentally assigned to more than one staff member.
2. Providers should follow the instructions in the employee ID linking file to link an old employee’s ID with a new one. This ensures continuity in reporting an employee’s hours when their ID changes (e.g., due to a change of vendor).
3. For every 8 hours of work, providers must exclude 30 minutes for a meal break. This must be deducted regardless of whether the meal was paid for or unpaid, and whether the break was taken.
4. Submit data early so you have time to run and review PBJ CASPER Reports and make necessary corrections prior to the submission deadline. If any errors are identified, they must be corrected before the final submission deadline. Please note that corrections will not be accepted after this deadline. The 1702S Staffing Summary Report provides information on the number of staff by job title and the total hours reported for the given job title. This report can be helpful in identifying if there are zero hours reported for a particular job title (e.g. zero RN hours). The 1703D Job Title Report can also be helpful in drilling down by work date the staffing hours for a particular job title. This can be particularly helpful to ensure that there are RN hours for each day.
5. If you are correcting data, be sure to utilize the “merge” and “replace” commands carefully. The “replace” command removes all the data for the quarter and replaces it with the new data in the file. Consult the PBJ User Manual for more information.

AHCA released a webinar on best practices for submitting data for PBJ, including how CASPER Reports can be utilized prior to the submission deadline to review and validate submitted data. AHCA has also created a frequently asked question resource to support members with their staffing data submission. Members may direct their PBJ questions to AHCA at [email protected]​.

CMS has several resources to help answer provider questions on PBJ:

• CMS PBJ W​ebsite 
• Five-Star Technical User Guide
  • ​Technical questions should be directed to the iQIES Service Center. Note due to the upcoming deadline, they anticipate a high volume of calls and emails. They can be reached via one of the following methods:

• Email: [email protected]​ 
• Schedule a service call at CCSQ Support Central  
• Live Chat at CCSQ Support Central  
• Policy Questions should be directed to: [email protected]