Changing Employee Identifiers (ID) in the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) System

Important!

Linking Employee Identifiers (ID) is ESSENTIAL

for accurate tenure and turnover quarterly reporting.

CMS is aware of situations when a facility needs to change the employee ID for one or more of

its staff (examples below). In order to maintain the reporting of an employee’s hours through an

employee ID change, CMS added a method that facilities MUST use to link an old employee’s ID

to a new one. This feature was implemented on November 20, 2017.

The method in which this was implemented in PBJ is through a Linking table. The PBJ system will

assign a system generated ID to each employee ID. When a facility links a new employee ID to an old

employee ID, the system will link both of these IDs to the same system ID. Therefore, the two or more

individual Employee IDs each can have hours logged to it, and both will be tied to the same system ID.

Employee IDs are used to calculate each facility’s staff turnover measures by identifying when each

employee starts and stops working at a facility. If a facility changes an employee’s ID, that event is

viewed the same as an employee ending their work at a facility. Therefore, it is essential that

facilities link old and new employee IDs together when they change. If a facility does not do this, it

will artificially increase its staff turnover measures (i.e., viewed as worse performance). Employee IDs

must be linked in the same quarter they are updated to provide the most accurate reporting for each

facility.

NOTE: For purposes of existing PBJ Reports and screens, the individual Employee IDs will continue to

appear on the reports as two or more Employee IDs assigned by the facility. The new field, System

Employee ID, is being added, which will show the individual Employee IDs together on reports under

one System Employee ID, if this option is selected.

The process for creating and submitting the employee ID linking file is the same as all the other XML

submissions.

• The technical submission XML file template and instructions to create linked IDs is located here:

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-

Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/Downloads/PBJ-Admin-Excel-to-XML-Template-V-1-00-

0.zip

Depending on your machine settings, this may open as a download, and not in Excel directly.

• An XML Schema Definition (XSD) file can be located here:

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-

Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/Downloads/PBJ-XSD-Admin-file-V1-00-0.zip

The XSD defines the layout of the XML document, acting as a "data contract" so those providing

the XML know what format is to be expected.

• Detailed instructions for submitting the XML file are located in section 4 of the PBJ Provider

User's Guide located here:

https://qtso.cms.gov/providers/nursing-home-mdsswing-bed-providers/reference-manuals

Changing Employee Identifiers (ID) in the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) System

When might you use this?

Employee = the real person

Employee ID = An ID assigned by the Facility or representative of the Facility

System Employee ID: An ID assigned by the PBJ System. This ID will be the same for linked Employee

IDs

Scenario #1

An employee leaves the facility, and then is rehired months later. The timekeeping system the facility

uses automatically assigns the employee a new Employee ID when they are rehired (the second

Employee ID for the same person).

What to do:

1. In PBJ, when the employee returns, add the Employee using the second Employee ID. Once

it’s added, you can begin logging hours toward this second Employee ID.

2. Assuming you have not deleted the Employee ID for their first stint of employment, this first

Employee ID and the second Employee ID will be submitted in a cross-reference XML file that

will tell PBJ to “link” these two Employee IDs, when calculating hours for quality measures.

3. After the employee IDs are linked, the old and new IDs still remain in PBJ and either can have

hours logged to them. Do not delete either Employee ID.

Scenario #2

A facility changes HR Timekeeping Vendors. The new vendor cannot use the Employee IDs of the old

vendor. Every employee in the facility will be given a new Employee ID.

What to do:

1. In PBJ, add all of the new Employee IDs of the new vendor as if these are all new employees.

Once added, you can begin logging hours toward these new Employee IDs.

2. Submit a cross-reference XML file that will tell PBJ to “link” corresponding Employee IDs,

when calculating hours for quality measures.

3. After the employee IDs are linked, the old and new IDs still remain in PBJ and either can have

hours logged to them. Do not delete either Employee ID.

Similar Scenarios

Other similar scenarios might include:

• A corporation acquires a facility and needs to change the facility’s employee IDs to the corporate

standard IDs.

• The submitter, on behalf of the facility, requires a standard employee ID.

Notes

• The system will allow staffing hour submissions for the old and new Employee IDs.

• You must delete both Employee IDs for that Employee, if you want the employee deleted.

• The linking can only occur for Employee IDs in the same facility, not across facilities.

Changing Employee Identifiers (ID) in the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) System

• Linking must be done in the same quarter you update the employee IDs to ensure accurate

measure calculations. You can submit the linking after the quarter, but it could negatively affect

your staff turnover measure.

FAQ’s

1. Once I link two employee IDs, can I go back and add hours or update hours on the old employee

ID?

Yes, both employee IDs still exist in PBJ as separate Employee IDs.

The quarterly deadline rules apply to the hours associated with both individual Employee IDs.

2. Is there an “effective” date where the old ID is disabled and the new one begins?

No, each ID continues to exist in PBJ as separate Employee IDs, and they are both tied to the

same system ID.

3. Can I link employees in the middle of a quarter?

Yes, the linking file can be submitted at any time.

Note: The quarterly submission deadlines still apply.

4. Will providers be able to login and change the employee number through the PBJ online

screens?

No, there is no capability to "change" an employee ID online.

The only way to represent two Employee IDs as one employee is to submit the XML linking file

which will link the two employee IDs to the same system ID. The linking XML file will be

submitted from the same PBJ screen that the current PBJ XML files are submitted.

The linking file and instructions are located here.

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-

Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/Downloads/PBJ-Admin-

Excel-to-XML-Template-V-1-00-0.zip

5. Will CMS provide an Excel template to assist in auto generating the linking XML file?

Yes, the linking file and instructions are located here:

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-

Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/Downloads/PBJ-Admin-Excel-to-XML-Template-V-1-00-

0.zip

6. What if I want to delete the employee?

All staffing hours will need to be deleted for each Employee ID. Then you can delete each

individual Employee ID that is associated with that employee.

You can run PBJ CASPER report 1700D to give you this information.

7. What if I don’t link the IDs in the same quarter that I updated them?

Your quarterly measure will be calculated and reported with the data available at the time. If

you have not linked employee IDs, it could affect your tenure and turnover measure, and

possibly reflect poor performance, which affects your rating.

Failure to link IDs will continue to affect quarterly measures until the ID links are brought up to

date.

You can link employee IDs at any time during or after a quarter, but they must eventually be

linked to provide the most accurate picture for your facility.

Changing Employee Identifiers (ID) in the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) System

8. How do I find employee IDs I have linked?

You can run the Employee report 1700D to see your active and terminated employee IDs by

quarter. If there are duplicate system IDs, that will show what you have already linked.

Note: While report 1700D only has 2 options in the dropdown for date – prior fiscal quarter,

and quarter to date - you can physically enter any date you want of any previous quarter. But it

can only run for one quarter at a time

9. How do I find employee IDs I have not linked yet?

Unfortunately, PBJ does not know if a new entry is a new employee, a new ID assigned to an

existing employee, or a rehire. You would need to utilize your facility records and previous XML

submissions to help identify which IDs need to be linked.

Report 1700D can help verify who has been linked.