PBJ Submission Deadline is August 14 (SNF)

The Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) quarterly submissions deadline is August 14, 2025. Due to the launch of the Internet Quality Improvement & Evaluation System (IQIES) on July 14, 2025 (see article above), the IQIES Service Center is anticipating an increase in the volume of calls and emails it receives.

Plan Ahead: To avoid delays or complications with data submission, CMS strongly encourages all users to submit their PBJ data as early as possible, ideally before July 14. Early reporting ensures smoother processing and minimizes the risk of last-minute issues.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published updates to the PBJ Manual. Key updates include the following:

• Facilities are reminded to run their census reports and verify the accuracy of their resident census data prior to the submission deadline.  
• No single individual can have more than 22.5 hours of work reported for any one day. This is to comply with the requirement that, for every eight hours of work, a minimum of 30 minutes must be deducted for a meal break regardless of whether a break was taken or not. If a longer break is taken, that total time must be deducted. 
•  The manual also clarifies that, for nursing hours to be counted, work must be completed on-site.