Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare I encourage you to read and share Dr. Michael Wasserman’s October 26, 2020 Guest Column  in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.  It is well worth the read! Dr. Wasserman ends his column with this: “Nursing homes desperately need strong medical leadership in an engaged and competent medical…… Continue reading Moving Nursing Homes Forward: The Future is Now

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On Friday, October 23, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy signed two bills (S2712 and S2785) ordering reforms to the long-term care industry in New Jersey. S2712 requires minimum direct care staff-to-resident ratios in New Jersey long-term care facilities. Additionally, the legislation will establish the Special Task Force…… Continue reading New Jersey: Minimum LTC Staffing Ratios Law Signed

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The MDS 3.0 QM User’s Manual V14.0 has been posted. The MDS 3.0 QM User’s Manual V14.0 contains detailed specifications for the MDS 3.0 quality measures and includes a Notable Changes section that summarizes the major changes from MDS 3.0 QM User’s Manual V13.0. The MDS…… Continue reading MDS 3.0 QM User’s Manual Version 14.0 Now Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has provided an Addendum to this User’s Manual.  The information in the Addendum is effective October 1, 2020 to coincide with the implementation of the MDS 3.0 Item Set, version 1.17.2.   It’s a .zip file so this is what you’ll see when you open it:…… Continue reading SNF QRP Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual Updated

Jenn Feige – ezPBJ/SimplePBJ COVID-19 has dominated the news — and the senior care industry. Over the past few months, CMS has issued waivers, updated waivers, and repealed waivers. Amidst this COVID chaos is confusion over what PBJ Staffing data is currently posted on Nursing Home Compare. Is it Q1? … Q2? When do you…… Continue reading Tips for the PBJ Pro — Get Ready for the Nov. 14 Deadline!

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 Users – Software Updated Again

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Minnesota MDS Coordinators: The current Case Mix Classification Manual for Nursing Facilities has been updated with a new name and we have combined the CMR Portal Instructions into Appendix E of this manual. The Case Mix Review Program has also released a new CMR Portal were…… Continue reading Minnesota Case Mix Review Manual

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On October 5, 2020, CMS issued this QSO-21-02-NH memorandum.  This is a 3-page document. A resident’s rights, including the right to vote, must not be impeded in any way by the nursing home and its facility staff. Nursing homes should have a plan to ensure residents…… Continue reading Compliance with Residents’ Rights Requirement related to NH Residents’ Right to Vote

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare If you read my jRAVEN blog a week ago, you need to apply the most recent update to your system ASAP.  Here’s a snippet of the release notes for jRAVEN 1.7.5.: jRAVEN (version 1.7.5) is now available for download which contains the following updates:   The new…… Continue reading jRAVEN Updated – Again

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS just posted two (2) September 2020 updates to MDS reporting guides: MDS 3.0 Provider User’s Guide_Section 5: Error Messages CASPER Reporting MDS Provider User’s GuideCASPER Reporting MDS Provider User’s Guide_Section 11: MDS Quality Measure Reports CASPER Reporting MDS Provider User’s Guide_Section 13: SNF Quality Reporting…… Continue reading Updates to MDS and CASPER Provider Reporting Guides