Question: If a resident dies before an assessment is completed, should the MDS be finished or canceled? Answer from Jennifer LaBay, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, QCP, CRC: When a resident dies while in the middle of the completion of an assessment but before it is required to be completed, you should …
Question: If a resident develops a blood blister or pressure ulcer but has no other decline in ADLs, cognition, or condition, is a Significant Change in Status Assessment (SCSA) required? Answer from Carol Maher, RN, GERO-BC, RAC-MTA, RAC-MT, CPC: A new pressure ulcer is one area of decline. We are …
From https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/prospective-payment-systems/skilled-nursing-facility-snf/list-federal-regulations/cms-1843-p DRAFT SNF QRP New and Modified Items with a Proposed Effective Date of October 1, 2031: FY27_Proposed_Rule_SNF_All_Payer_draft_mockups_MDS__508.pdf (PDF) From https://www.cms.gov/medicare/quality/snf-quality-reporting-program/measures-and-technical-information Draft MDS re: proposed removal of MDS item O0350 on Oct. 1, 2027: CMS-10387 from https://www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/legislation/paperworkreductionactof1995/pra-listing-items/cms-10387
In this LTC NAC Chat podcast episode, Sarah Becker, RN, Director of Clinical Reimbursement for Proactive LTC Consulting, and Christine Twombly, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, CQP, CRC, break down the updated CMS guidance on Falls with Major Injury and what it means for MDS coding, Quality Measures, survey outcomes, and resident …
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More than 15,000 nursing professionals working in long-term care take AAPACN education online courses each year. One of the common questions AAPACN receives from new students is, “How can I access my Learner Dashboard?” The Learner Dashboard is the main online education hub where learners can review and start their …
Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2027 Filed on: 04/02/2026 at 5:15 pm Scheduled Pub. Date: 04/07/2026 PDF 114 Pages (397 KB) Permalink Fact sheet Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System Proposed …
Listen to this article Your browser does not support the audio element. Under the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP), SNFs must meet an annual 90 percent MDS submission threshold to help avoid a 2 percent cut in their annual payment update (APU) in the applicable fiscal year …
Listen to this article Your browser does not support the audio element. Seasonal celebrations often remind us how quickly small choices can add up. A little handful of candy or a few fruit jelly slices may seem insignificant, but piece by piece they do make an impact. In healthcare documentation …
Question: A dialysis patient is going out of the facility for dialysis. We use the appropriate N18 code, but would Z99.2 be excluded since dialysis isn’t provided in-house? Answer from Carol Maher, RN, GERO-BC, RAC-MTA, RAC-MT, CPC: The resident remains your SNF’s resident while receiving dialysis. Coding should reflect the …
Question: We have a patient who is on hospice but elected to be sent out over the weekend for an acute illness, so he revoked his hospice status. He came back less than 24 hours later. If he is picked back up on hospice within the next day or two, …
