The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced in early January it would start posting nursing home turnover rates for nurses and administrators, as well as weekend staffing levels, by the end of the month.

The information will first be placed on the consumer-facing Medicare Care Compare and then in July be incorporated into the Five-Staring rating system. Staffing averages have been posted there for a decade.

The moves intensify pressure on providers that are facing a historic workforce shortage with no clear end in sight.
Researchers have associated nursing home staff turnover with lower star ratings and poorer outcomes.

“The publication of these statistics (by CMS) has been a long time coming,” said UCLA health economics assistant professor Ashvin Gandhi, who in 2021 found national turnover rates to be much higher than previously believed.