MDS data quality: Things are not always as they seem
By
Steven Littlehale
Jul 15, 2013
Open up the hood and look at the engine. Does the data scrubbing module focus only on standard CMS coding and consistency checks and the “RUG” items, or is it more robust and emphasize clinical...
DOJ the latest to pile on in therapy-billing mess
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 01, 2014
Don’t let anyone tell you that long-term care operators don’t know how to read between the lines. They might not have known to fear a McKnight’s Daily Update item before it appeared Sept....
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...
Looking at short stay assessments
By
Jan White
Sep 10, 2014
In reviewing the MDS, there are several areas to check related to short stay requirements. First, is the Start of Therapy assessment checked in A0310C? If there is not a 5-day scheduled assessment or readmission/return...
Innovative ideas for MDS staffing
By
Rosanna L. Benbow
Maureen McCarthy
Aug 17, 2021
Today, if you search for MDS jobs nationwide you will find a staggering number of open positions. On any given day you can find more than 1,200 to 1,400 open positions across the United States. That’s...
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,...
Tech toys
Jan 30, 2008
The nation’s top lawmakers are learning more about new monitoring, personal health record and brain fitness technologies for seniors during a special briefing and demonstration today.Senators from...
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...