Preparing Psychotropic Practices for Survey: Strengthening Oversight Before It Becomes a Deficiency

Preparing Psychotropic Practices for Survey: Strengthening Oversight Before It Becomes a Deficiency By Lauren Stenson Psychotropic medication use continues to be one of the most heavily scrutinized areas in long-term care, for good reason. At this juncture, clinical decision-making, resident quality of life, and regulatory compliance all come together. The …

**Reminder** FileSpec Version 4.10.0 Now Required for PBJ Submissions

Current Submission RequirementsAs of April 1, 2026, fileSpecVersion 4.10.0 is REQUIRED for all Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) file submissions. Old versions (2.00.0, 2.00.3, and 4.00.0) are no longer accepted. Any files submitted using these versions will be rejected. You must use fileSpecVersion 4.10.0 for all submissions. Daily Hours LimitVersion 4.10.0 …

Cross-Setting: Falls with Major Injury (FMI) QM Respecification Training

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a Web-Based Training that provides the latest information about the respecification of the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) Quality Measure (QM) for the Post-Acute Care (PAC) Settings. The training provides an overview of the legacy and respecified FMI Measure, discusses …

Five-Star Technical User’s Guide Plus Claims-Based Measures Appendix (Updated)

CMS created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily. The Nursing Home Compare Web site features a quality rating system that gives each nursing home a rating of between 1 and 5 stars. Nursing homes with 5 stars are considered …

QSO Memo on Nurse Aide Training Competencies

Clarification regarding Nurse Aide Training Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP) and Nurse Aide Competency Evaluation Program (CEP) requirements and allowable flexibilities Memo # QSO-26-08-NH Posting Date 2026-04-08 Fiscal Year 2026 Memorandum Summary Clarification of NATCEP Requirements and allowable flexibilities: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is clarifying NATCEP/CEP requirements and permissible flexibilities …

Ancillary Billing Review: Why the DNS Must Lead the Financial-Clinical Conversation

Listen to this article Your browser does not support the audio element. As the clinical leader of the largest operational department in a skilled nursing facility, the director of nursing services (DNS), in tandem with the administrator, plays a key role in financial oversight. Ancillary charges are rooted in nursing-driven …

Ancillary Billing Review Checklist

The director of nursing services should review ancillary billing monthly to ensure that all billed services and supplies are clinically appropriate, documented accurately, and supported by skilled nursing care. The DNS can use this Ancillary Billing Review Checklist to help confirm compliance with Medicare Part A and Part B rules, …

CMS QSO Memo: Updates to Chapters 5 and 7 of the State Operations Manual (Revised)

Memo # QSO-26-03-NH REVISED Posting Date 2026-04-03 Fiscal Year 2026 Downloads AAPACN note: Some of the key revisions in red from the memo are excerpted below. There are a number of significant changes to the chapters themselves, including a number of new definitions. Enforcement Guidance: Revises policies for Civil Money Penalties (CMP) to …

MDS 3.0 Quality Measures (QM) User’s Manual v18.0 Effective Jan. 1, 2026 and Associated Files — Plus Errata

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is publishing an errata change table document to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Quality Measures (QM) User’s Manual v18.0, related to the clarification of details for the Long-Stay Antipsychotic measure in Chapter 1, Section 6. This errata is being issued to …