Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has updated the Five-Star Technical Users’ Guide … State-Level Health Inspection Cut Point Table. This document (4 pages including title page) – Five Star Quality Rating System Technical Users’ Guide: State Level Health Inspection Cut Point Table – provides the data for the state-level cut…… Continue reading Five-Star User’s Guide: State-Level Health Inspection Cut Point Table Updated

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Looking for contact information for your state’s RAI or MDS Automation Coordinator?  RAI Panel members or Regional Office staff?  Here’s the latest Appendix B – hot off the press as of today, January 28, 2021.  The corresponding Changes to Appendix B are always appreciated.  Thank you,…… Continue reading CMS Updates Appendix B of RAI User’s Manual

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare AS RESIDENT POPULATION SHRINKS, NURSING HOMES REMAIN UNDERSTAFFED is the “subtitle” of the alert email I received on Friday, January 22, 2021 from the Long Term Care Community Coalition. January 22, 2021 – Staffing levels are a key predictor of nursing home resident outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.…… Continue reading Nursing Home Staffing Data – Quarter 3, 2020

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted an updated Five-Star User’s Guide on Friday, January 15, 2021.  I’ve italicized and underlined the key changes in each of the 3 areas of January 2021 Revisions (in the updated 29-page guide itself, all such verbiage found on page 2 is italicized). Health Inspection…… Continue reading Five-Star User’s Guide Updated

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare An updated 32-page Appendices for Nursing Home Compare Quality Measure Technical Specificationswas posted late last week.  It’s a pretty technical document that you might find interesting.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On January 14, 2021, Iowa DHS and IME issued Informational Letter NO. 2210-MC-FFS.  **This Informational Letter (IL) replaces IL 2204-MC-FFS dated January 7, 2021.** This letter is intended to update providers on the process for registering to receive distribution of quarterly case mix rosters. Please note:…… Continue reading Iowa LTC Providers: Updated Iowa Case Mix Roster Distribution Information

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center has posted a 53-page Enhancing Your Advocacy Toolbox – Protecting Residents from Nursing Facility-Initiated Discharges guide. “Complaints regarding nursing facility-initiated discharges have been the most common type of complaint received by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program for the last…… Continue reading Enhancing Your Advocacy Toolbox-Protecting Residents from Nursing Facility-Initiated Discharges

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On January 13, 2021, AARP issued 10 Steps to Reform and Improve Nursing Homes with a subtitle of Expert insights on how the industry should evolve in response to COVID-19.  “The current system for funding and delivering long-term care services is a national crisis that we…… Continue reading AARP Report: 10 Steps to Reform and Improve Nursing Homes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Resident Assessment Validation and Entry System (jRAVEN) was developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). jRAVEN is a free Java based software application which provides an option for facilities to collect and maintain MDS Assessment data for subsequent submission to the appropriate…… Continue reading jRAVEN Updated in Early January 2021

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted the ICD-10 PDPM mappings for FY2021.  This is a .zip file.