Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare
The MDS 3.0 CAT specifications (V1.06.0) are now available in theDownloads section below. The specifications currently consist of the PDF documentation files, which describe the logic changes and provide pseudocode. Note that many of the CAT triggers are changing as a result of the V3.01.0 MDS Data Specification changes already posted.
(In the recent MDS vendor call, it was determined that the fixed-length string test files provided in past CAT specification packages are still of use to vendors. Therefore, they will be posted as an addendum at a later date.)
The direct link to the CAT specs is here. Below is what you’ll see when you open the .zip file:
The first 2 documents in the above list show the specs as well as the changed specs. Vendors will use the information in this .zip file to develop the code for the MDS items and responses that will trigger the Care Area Assessments – the CATs. You may find these specs interesting as they show how we’ll transition from Section G to Section GG for the Care Areas. With our current version (v1.17.2), 17 of the 20 Care Areas use items in Section G for those triggers or for consideration on the Appendix C CAA Worksheets.
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