Achieving your Resident Assessment Coordinator—Certified (RAC-CT®) certification is a tremendous accomplishment for a nurse assessment coordinator in long-term care; however, the road isn’t easy. It takes hours of studying, in-depth learning and critical thinking, and focus to complete the 10 courses and pass the exams. If you are considering embarking on your …
By Jessica Kunkler, MA Staff turnover is everyone’s problem, and in facilities across the United States, it’s a big one. One in four nursing assistants and one in five home health aides report that they are actively looking for another job, according to the Recruitment and Retention Guide For Employers by …
With the rush to understand the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) under the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS), it’s easy to get caught up in meeting the technical criteria for payment—and not pay enough attention to the clinical criteria for meeting a Medicare skilled level of care, says …
Question: When I received training for ICD-10 coding as it relates to billing, I was taught that the primary diagnosis code for long term SNF residents on a UB-04 claim would be their primary diagnosis for why they remain in the nursing facility. Therefore, if the primary diagnosis code was …
For staff, the holidays can be a busy time full of family gatherings and holiday celebrations, but for our residents, the holidays can be an especially lonely time. Our residents must adjust to so many different circumstances as they age — issues such as physical disability, loss of independence, social …
Planning for time off over the holidays often takes coordination across the entire interdisciplinary team (IDT) to ensure processes and systems continue to operate smoothly while key players are missing. The nurse assessment coordinator (NAC) must ensure MDS assessments are in place, skilled Medicare decisions are being made appropriately, significant …
Question: I understand that the diagnosis in I0020B should be listed as the principal diagnosis on the UB-04 claim; however, should the remaining diagnoses be listed in order according to the main reasons the resident is skilled how we list the codes in I8000, to include the codes that are …
By Emily Royalty-Bachelor Care conferences: maybe you’re familiar with them. Maybe you even attend them on a regular basis. But are you confident that your care conferences are meeting their intended purposes and making good use of everyone’s time? Here are some important details you need to know about hosting your …
As a screening tool to identify potential weight problems for adults, body mass index (BMI) has always been important to document, but it gained new importance as a reimbursement factor for Medicare Part A residents under the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM). Here’s what nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) need to know …
The nurse assessment coordinator and team members can easily convert the case-mix groups achieved under the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to the five-digit Medicare billing code by using the PDPM Case-Mix Group Conversion to HIPPS Characters tool. For permission to use or reproduce this tool in full or in …
