Providers ‘on notice’ as CMS pressures states to shift Medicaid pay metrics
By
Kimberly Marselas
Nov 10, 2022
Providers still struggling to accurately capture diagnoses that drive federal reimbursement will be doubly left behind as more states start to use Patient Driven Payment Model-like systems to determine...
Nearly 1,200 ICD coding changes kick in Saturday
By
Joe Bush
Sep 30, 2022
Providers are trying to wrap their arms — and their software — around almost 1,200 ICD-10 coding updates that go into effect starting this weekend, including an “explosion of codes” related to...
More knowledgeable nurse assessment coordinators needed, group says
By
Jessica R. Towhey
Sep 12, 2023
More than one-quarter of nurse assessment coordinators have limited on-the-job experience, potentially leaving providers at risk for survey deficiencies and leading to poorer health outcomes for facility...
An MDS affair — or RFI — to remember
By
Joel VanEaton
Apr 19, 2024
I’m a sucker for classic movies. My parents made sure I grew up watching black and whites of the likes of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Gene Autry, John Wayne,...
MDS transition or escape room adventure?
By
Maureen McCarthy
Dec 01, 2023
Skilled nursing facilities across the country unknowingly entered an escape room on Oct. 1, searching for a unique combination of clues, keys and passcodes to solve the puzzle. Their mission: Performing...
The MDS reminds me of something in Narnia?
By
Joel VanEaton
May 16, 2023
I am a fan of C.S. Lewis. If you have not read “The Chronicles of Narnia,” you should. You may have seen the more recent three films based on these books. As good as they were, as is usually the case,...
The changes to end-of-life skin wound classification in the most recent Minimum Data Set update are ultimately a positive for long-term care, but regulatory ambiguity and potential legal concerns still...
Will you pass CMS’s new schizophrenia MDS audits?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 31, 2023
In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started focused on-site surveys to address the issue of erroneous coding of schizophrenia in nursing homes. More recently, the agency began conducting...
The movie is never as good as the book… usually
By
Joel VanEaton
Jun 13, 2023
Have you ever read a really good book that was subsequently made into a movie? I have. Time after time, after watching the movie, I end up walking away thinking, “I wish I had just stuck with the book…...