Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Confused? Concerned? Don’t know what to make of the news? Don’t know what to do about compliance with recent injunctions involving vaccination of staff? You’re in good company – our heads are all spinning. Here’s the skinny on what’s happening – at this point in time.…… Continue reading Multiple Injunctions Block CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Regulation

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Five Star Preview Reports will be available on November 30, 2021. To access these reports, select the CASPER Reporting link located on the CMS QIES Systems for Providers page. Once in the CASPER Reporting system, select the ‘Folders’ button, then select ‘My Inbox’ or the…… Continue reading 5-Star Preview Reports Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS issued Transmittal 11139 … Change Request 12431 on November 23, 2021.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted this 44-page study (same name as the title of this blog) on November 18, 2021.  The report summary is found here. “Nursing homes can legally discharge residents for certain reasons (known as facility-initiated discharges). Facility-initiated discharges that do not…… Continue reading Facility-Initiated Discharges in Nursing Homes Require Further Attention

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted an updated Appendix B – RAI User’s Manual late on Monday afternoon, November 22, 2021. The November update of Appendix B to the RAI 3.0 User’s Manual contains changes to the list of State RAI Coordinators, MDS Automation Coordinators, RAI Panel members, and CMS locations and…… Continue reading CMS Updates Appendix B of the RAI User’s Manual

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted an update to its free MDS 3.0 software on November 24, 2021.         jRAVEN (version 1.7.9) is now available for download which contains the following update: 1.   The new version number for the PDPM Grouper, v2.0001.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP                                                                                                                 Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Join the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a National Nursing Home Stakeholder call on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, 2:00pm-3:00pm ET. During the call, subject matter experts will provide an overview of recently released guidance and address…… Continue reading Nursing Home Stakeholder Call on November 23, 2021

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores on quality measures, which will be published on Care Compare (CCXP) and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the January 2022 refresh of the website. The data…… Continue reading SNF Provider Preview Reports Now Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late the afternoon of Friday, November 12, 2021, the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS), Iowa Medicaid Enterprise (IME) issued this Informational Letter: INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO. 2290-MC-FFS DATE: November 12, 2021 TO: All Iowa Medicaid Providers APPLIES TO: Managed Care (MC), Fee-for-Service (FFS) FROM: Iowa…… Continue reading Iowa Medicaid Providers: CMS, OSHA and Iowa Medicaid Providers

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Just a few minutes ago, CMS issued/posted 2 QSO Memorandums that you need to review with your team ASAP. I’m in the process of reviewing/digesting them myself.  There’s a great deal of new information. QSO-20-39-NH … Nursing Home Visitation – COVID-19 (REVISED 11/12/21) QSO-22-02-ALL … Changes…… Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: CMS Issues 2 QSO Memorandums Today