Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On September 30, 2021, CMS issued Transmittal R486PR1.  This 267-page transmittal removes those provisions in Chapter 28, relating to low volume prospective payment rates for skilled nursing facilities because they are obsolete.  In also includes revisions to the instructions for the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective…… Continue reading Medicare Provider Reimbursement Manual: SNF PPS Updates

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted the revised FY 2022 PDPM ICD-10 Mappings on September 27, 2021.  This is a .zip file. You can also find this revised file here beneath PDPM Resources.   These mappings are effective October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The September 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 contacts. To ensure accurate formatting, use a current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF. Web-based…… Continue reading RAI Manual – Appendix B: Updates for September 2021

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS via the QIES Technical Support Office has released the latest update for jRAVEN users – jRAVEN 1.7.8.  If you are using jRAVEN to encode your MDS’, you’ll want to download and install this version for use beginning October 1, 2021.  Here are those Release Notes:…… Continue reading jRAVEN Users: FY2022 Update Released

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Five Star Preview Reports will be available on September 20, 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 Five-Star Preview Reports Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS announced this afternoon that nursing home resident and staff COVID-19 vaccinations are now available on Care Compare.  This data was unveiled this afternoon (September 21, 2021).  The reported data will be updated by CMS bi-weekly. When you go into the nursing homes area and select…… Continue reading COVID-19 Resident and Staff Vaccination Rates Now on Care Compare

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On September 15, 2021, CMS issued Admin Info: 21-08-ALL.  This is a 34-page Administrative Memorandum. Beginning on page 6 of the QSO you’ll find these attachments: • Attachment A: FY 2021 SPSS Measure Definition Details                                                                                      • Attachment B: Conduct of Focused Infection Control Surveys in FY2020…… Continue reading Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 State Performance Standards System (SPSS) Findings, FY 2021 SPSS Guidance, and FY 2019 Results

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP  Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has just posted these LTC Survey Process updates: Once you navigate to the LTC Survey Process landing page, you’ll see these updated files beneath Downloads: LTC Survey Pathways – Updated 09/14/2021 (ZIP)Survey Resources – Updated 09/14/2021 (ZIP)The Updated Entrance Conference Form is found in the…… Continue reading CMS Updates LTC Survey Process Documents and Files

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted this 43-page report on September 1, 2021. OIG’s objective was to determine whether CMS’s COVID-19 data for nursing homes were complete and accurate. These recommendations are found on page 22 of the report: CMS concurred with three of (OIG)…… Continue reading CMS’s COVID-19 Data Included Required Information from the Vast Majority of Nursing Homes, But CMS Could Take Actions to Improve Completeness and Accuracy of the Data

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The lookup files containing the allowable ICD codes for item I0020B have been updated for FY2022.  They are provided as a separate ZIP file. When you open the file, you’ll see this (sample of 37,514 records available):