Identifying and dealing with a suspected change in condition before a clinical crisis occurs is a critical aspect of caring for fragile, elderly nursing home residents. To achieve that goal, nursing staff must think critically about the residents in their care. The director of nursing services (DNS) can take steps …
Over the last decade, a strong orientation and onboarding process has been linked to higher levels of knowledge, critical thinking skills, and job satisfaction among nursing staff—leading to lower staff turnover and improved retention. Conversely, an inadequate onboarding process can quickly turn new hires into former employees, forcing providers to …
The Medicare Part A PPS Discharge assessment (i.e., the NPE item set) is now a crucial assessment with far-reaching impacts for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP), the Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) program, the Five-Star Quality Rating System, and …
The ICD-10-CM code captured in MDS item I0020B (ICD-10 Code/Primary Medical Condition Category) is the foundation of case-mix classification for the Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT), and Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) payment components in the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) under the fee-for-service Medicare Part A skilled nursing facility prospective payment …
Working as a nurse in a nursing home can be overwhelming, especially if the director of nursing services (DNS) and executive leadership expect nurses to learn on the job and fail to set up a comprehensive program that includes adequate orientation (short-term training and support) and onboarding (longer-term training and …
Providing residents with the appropriate level of assistance in the activities of daily living (ADLs) is foundational to care in nursing homes, yet the ADLs consistently remain a common citation risk in the survey process. From 2021 to summer 2024, F677 (ADL Care Provided for Dependent Residents) is the eighth most-cited F-tag …
Like care plan management and evaluation and observation and assessment of a resident’s condition, teaching and training activities are a core nonskilled component of resident care that can rise to the level of a skilled service. Another way that these indirect skilled services are alike is that they historically haven’t …
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) Final Rule, released on July 31, 2024, and scheduled for publication on Aug. 6, 2024, largely finalized “as-is” the FY 2025 SNF PPS proposed rule. On the positive side, SNFs should see an aggregate $1.4 billion payment …
The Microsoft Access database containing the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes allowed for item I0020B has been updated to reflect the codes that will be active as of October 1, 2024 (FY2025). The ZIP file containing the updated database is now available From https://www.cms.gov/medicare/quality/nursing-home-improvement/minimum-data-set-technical-information
Hurricane Debby – Georgia and South Carolina (2024) Secretary Becerra used his authority in the Public Health Service Act to declare a public health emergency (PHE) on August 07, 2024, giving us the flexibility to support our beneficiaries in the States of Georgia and South Carolina, effective retrospectively since August 04, 2024. Hurricane …
