Long-term care providers who received Provider Relief Fund payments of more than $10,000 can now start reporting to the federal government how they spent that money.

The PRF Reporting Portal officially opened late last week for the first reporting period. Providers who received one or more payments exceeding a total of $10,000 between April 10 and June 30, 2020 must register and report through the portal. 

First reports must be submitted between July 1 and Sept. 30. In a blog post, LeadingAge noted the first step to PRF reporting is registration, which takes about 20 minutes to complete.

The PRF portal opening comes after the government issued providers more flexibility in reporting the expenditure of coronavirus relief funds. Federal health officials in June updated the reporting window to be from the time funds were first received. Before that, providers had been required to spend all their funds by June 30 or return any unused portion.

The June update also means providers now have a 90-day period to complete reporting rather than the previous 30-day reporting period.