United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2002-11-13 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:GAO-03-176 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176 P0b002ee1803926ae f:d03176 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176 GAO-03-176 Health care costs Health care services Managed health care Medical services rates Skilled nursing facilities Health care personnel Personnel management Medicare Program CMS Online Survey Certification and Reporting System Other Written Product A05507 The nation's 15,000 skilled nursing facilities (SNF) play an essential role in our health care system, providing Medicare-covered skilled nursing and rehabilitative care each year for 1.4 million Medicare patients who have recently been discharged from acute care hospitals. In recent years, many analysts and other observers, including members of Congress, have expressed concern about the level of nursing staff in SNFs and the impact of inadequate staffing on the quality of care. GAO's analysis of available data shows that, in the aggregate, SNFs' nurse staffing ratios changed little after the increase in the nursing component of the Medicare payment took effect. Overall, SNFs' average nursing time increased by 1.9 minutes per patient day, relative to their average in 2000 of about 3 and one-half hours of nursing time per patient day. For most SNFs, increases in staffing ratios were small. Further, GAO found that the share of SNF patients covered by Medicare was not a factor in whether facilities increased their nursing time. Similarly, SNFs that had a total revenues considerably in excess of costs before the added payments took effect did not increase their staffing substantially more than others. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176.pdf GAO-03-176 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-176 Other Written Product GAO-03-176; Skilled Nursing Facilities: Available Data Show Average Nursing Staff Time Changed Little after Medicare Payment Increase; Health care costs Health care services Managed health care Medical services rates Skilled nursing facilities Health care personnel Personnel management Medicare Program CMS Online Survey Certification and Reporting System Volume 111 Page 251 111 Stat. 251 Volume 113 Page 1501 113 Stat. 1501 Volume 114 Page 2763 114 Stat. 2763 Public Law 105-33 Public Law 106-113 Public Law 106-554