PBJ (Payroll-Based Journal) Reporting is a requirement set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for long-term care (LTC) facilities, such as nursing homes, to electronically submit detailed staffing and census information. The purpose of PBJ Reporting is to promote transparency and improve the quality of care in these facilities by tracking staff hours and resident census data, ensuring adequate staffing levels for the proper care of residents.
To support PBJ Reporting within Empeon's Time and Attendance Module, the system tracks all necessary data for these reports. Users can generate PBJ reports directly through the system, ensuring the correct information is compiled and properly formatted for submission to CMS. For the time and attendance system to support this feature for PBJ reporting, there are a couple backend, company-level settings that need to be established.
To view and maintain these settings, navigate to the Attendance section of the Company tab and select the PBJ Settings Card.
Within the PBJ Settings, three key pieces of information need to be registered:
- State Code - The state that the facility is located in.
- Unique ID - The CMS Certification Number (CCN) assigned to the facility.
- Agency Job Code CC Level - Since CMS allows for reporting by either Positions or Departments, the Cost Center assigned here should reflect one of these categories.
Please note there are additional steps are required within the assigned Cost Center to ensure the time and attendance system codes this correctly within the PBJ report. Within the assigned Cost Center, each Department or Position, depending on the Cost Center that is assigned in the PBJ Settings, will have an additional field within its configuration for PBJ Department. This field includes a dropdown menu containing the full list of PBJ codes, which must be assigned appropriately for EACH registered Department or Position (depending on which CC is assigned).
Additionally, all employees must be assigned a PBJ Type within their Employee Profile, indicating whether they are Exempt (salaried), Non-Exempt (hourly), or Contract (agency) employees. The field PBJ Type is found within the Attendance section of the Employee Profile on the Clock Settings Card.
For additional assistance when changing any of the PBJ Settings, or guidance with significant adjustments being made to these settings, please contact Empeon's Customer Support.