Written by: Jessica Stucin, RN, BSN, LNHA, RAC-CT, Assistant Director of Education, MDS Consultants On Jan. 18, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced they will be conducting offsite audits in nursing homes for assessment accuracy and coding of residents with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Along with …
Note: This is the first in a series of articles reviewing key issues in the draft v1.18.11 Long-Term Care Facility Resident Assessment Instrument 3.0 User’s Manual that could prove to be disruptive for busy nurse assessment coordinators (NACs). Even seemingly small changes to the draft RAI User’s Manual coding instructions …
Several new items added or revised on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) this October are considered social determinants of health (SDOHs): ethnicity, race, language, transportation, health literacy, and social isolation. SDOHs are nonmedical factors that can affect health outcomes. On the MDS, these items are collected directly from the resident. …
In a number of Medicaid case-mix states, the MDS v1.18.11 item sets won’t be the only MDS item sets that are implemented on Oct. 1, 2023—a fact that should temper some excitement about certain MDS items, such as section G (Functional Status), “going away,” suggests Scott Heichel, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, …
Many changes are coming to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) effective Oct. 1, 2023. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the draft of the Long-Term Care Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User’s Manual version 1.18.11 in April with a final manual expected in August. Several of the MDS …
The director of nursing services (DNS) position is multi-faceted, and a new DNS must learn a lot quickly. Areas such as providing residents quality care and staffing take top priority, and rightfully so. However, another chief priority is on the DNS’s mind daily: survey. Poor survey outcomes can have negative …
Data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that, as of January 2023, half of all Medicare beneficiaries are now enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report. Additional CMS data released in June 2023 indicates that although the number of …
Restorative nursing can impact fee-for-service Medicare Part A payment in the Behavioral Symptoms and Cognitive Performance category and the Reduced Physical Function category of the nursing component in the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), says Carol Maher, RN-BC, RAC-MTA, RAC-MT, RAC-CTA, RAC-CT, CPC, director of education for Hansen, Hunter & Co. …
Restorative nursing took a big hit in many nursing homes during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), says Carol Hill, MSN, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, CPC, president of Hill Educational Services in Warrior, AL. “Dedicated restorative nursing assistants (RNAs) and restorative nurses were often the first staff members to …
On May 11, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ended certain emergency waivers; put in place during the public health emergency, these waived some F-tag elements that would otherwise have applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the ending of these waivers, surveyors will resume …
