What is the Payroll Based Journal (PBJ)?
The Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) is the CMS system through which nursing homes and long-term care facilities electronically submit quarterly direct-care staffing data — actual hours worked by day, job type, and employee-versus-contract status. CMS uses PBJ data to calculate the Staffing Rating in nursing home star ratings, and publishes it as a public-use file.
- Source file
- Not reported
- Published
- Not reported
- Retrieved
- Not reported
- Snapshot
- Not retained for this reference page
- Re-check
- CMS: PBJ overview
- Data as of
- Not reported
Full name: Payroll-Based Journal
Short explanation
The Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) is a CMS system requiring nursing homes and long-term care facilities to submit direct care staffing data electronically on a quarterly basis. Mandated under the Affordable Care Act and the SNF Staffing Final Rule, PBJ data includes actual hours worked by nursing staff by day, job type, and hire type (employee vs. contract staff). CMS uses PBJ data to calculate the Staffing Rating component of nursing home star ratings on Care Compare. PBJ data is publicly available and widely used in nursing home staffing research.
How it’s used
- CMS Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ): Fonteum uses PBJ data to populate the staffing domain of nursing home research studies and to contextualize star-rating staffing components.
- CMS Care Compare (nursing homes): the Staffing domain of the nursing home five-star rating is calculated entirely from PBJ-submitted payroll data.
Frequently asked questions
- What is PBJ?
- PBJ (Payroll-Based Journal) is the CMS system that requires nursing homes to submit quarterly electronic staffing data — actual daily hours by staff type — for use in star rating calculations.
- How is PBJ data used in star ratings?
- CMS uses PBJ-submitted staffing hours to calculate the RN hours-per-resident-day and total nurse staffing hours metrics that determine a nursing home's Staffing domain star rating.
- Is PBJ data public?
- Yes. CMS publishes PBJ daily staffing data quarterly as a public-use file at data.cms.gov.