Section 6106 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires nursing homes to electronically submit direct care staffing information (including agency and contract staff) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The employee and worked hours data, when combined with census information, can be used to report on the level of staff in each nursing home, and on employee turnover and tenure, which can affect the quality of care delivered. CMS accepts uploaded data in an XML format only.

The following is an overview of the process to convert a CSV file to an XML format for submission to CMS.

1. Run the Payroll-Based Journal Worksheet reports (found in My Reports) to extract your Time & Attendance data.

2. Upload the report to the Payroll-Based Journal Worksheet-CMS Format for conversion to a submission-ready XML format.

3. Download the submission-ready XML file. Then upload the file to CMS.

CMS intends to collect staffing and census data through the PBJ system on a mandatory basis beginning on July 1, 2016. Facilities are required to submit data on a quarterly basis. Recordkeeping will begin on July 1, 2016. The first quarterly report is due by November 14, 2016.

Fiscal quarters for reporting are:

• July 1 – September 30

• October 1 – December 31

• January 1 – March 31

• April 1 – June 30

Non-compliance could result in CMS or the state imposing one or more remedies.

1. Click Choose File to select your file. Only CSV files are supported.

2. Click Open.

3. Click Submit to initiate the XML conversion process.

4. Click OK.

Click here for more information about the Payroll-Based Journal Worksheet.