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 …
On June 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released updates to the surveyor guidance in Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual. Some are minor technical updates, while others introduce entirely new guidance. Given the enormity of the updates, along with the other challenges facility leaders …
While most skilled nursing facility (SNF) leaders are aware of QAPI and have executed a QAPI plan, many view QAPI itself as nebulous, abstract, or vague. This lack of clarity complicates QAPI execution. This, in turn, encumbers QAPI’s potential to prompt continuous improvement. In the environment of value-based care, SNFs …
Nursing homes must designate “one or more individuals as the infection preventionist (IP) who is responsible for assessing, developing, implementing, monitoring, and managing the infection prevention and control program (IPCP),” which includes the requirements at F-tags F880 (Infection Prevention and Control) and F881 (Antibiotic Stewardship Program), according to the new …
Ah, the great mysteries of life. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is there intelligent life on other planets? Where do all the missing socks go? And of course, the enduring mystery: what is the interrupted stay policy? Interrupted stays may not happen often, and every skilled nursing …
This Oct. 24, surveyors will begin enforcing mandatory communication training requirements to ensure that direct-care staff can communicate effectively with residents under F-tag F941 (Communication Training) in Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality, Safety, and Oversight memo QSO-22-19-NH. …
When I was an assistant director of nursing, I accepted a promotion and became the director of nursing services (DNS). I had been a nurse manager for a few years and thought I was prepared to take on the role. After all, it was just one department, right? I realized …
Jessie McGill, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA and Alexis Roam, MSN, RN-BC, DNS-CT, QCP The annual rulemaking process enables stakeholders to comment on proposals that will affect skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) throughout the next year. In early April, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its fiscal year (FY) 2023 …
