Here are five things to know from the study:
- Researchers from Seattle-based University of Washington analyzed ownership and staffing data of 11,543 skilled nursing facilities from between January 2018 and June 2023.
- During the study period, 21.7% of skilled nursing facilities reported an ownership change.
- Ownership change was tied to a 0.07 hours-per-patient-day decrease in overall staffing and a 0.09-HPPD decrease in nurse staffing.
Ownership change was also tied to a 0.02-HPPD increase in non-nurse staffing and a 0.52-hour increase in administrator staffing.
- The results “support concerns that SNF ownership changes may negatively impact staffing operations and suggest that SNFs undergoing changes in ownership may have increased difficulty meeting potential new nurse minimum staffing standards,” the study authors wrote.
- In October, 20 states and 19 nonprofit organizations filed a lawsuit against the HHS and CMS over a nursing home staffing level mandate set to be implemented in 2026.
Under the Biden administration, CMS launched a nursing home staffing campaign to address industrywide workforce shortage concerns.
Read the full study here.
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