Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late last week, I blogged about the QSO-20-34-NH notification and what its contents meant for LTC providers.  A key element of this QSO was the end of the PBJ reporting waiver.  It was a short-lived waiver, to be sure.  ezPBJ – a Briggs family member and…… Continue reading PBJ Reporting Waiver Ends – Get the Facts from the Experts!

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The ABN, Form CMS-R-131, and form instructions have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal.  The use of the renewed form with the expiration date of 06/30/2023 will be mandatory on 8/31/2020.  The ABN form and instructions may be found at: …… Continue reading CMS-R-131 ABN Form Renewed

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Yesterday’s session for Establishing an Infection Prevention Program and Conducting Ongoing Infection Surveillance in the Nursing Home (registration filled rapidly for this session) was a great kickoff for this series of eight (8) one-hour sessions every Thursday from 4pm to 5pm (ET) through July 16th to…… Continue reading Missed the First Session of May 28, 2020 National NH Training Series?

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS is conducting a weekly NH training series focused on infection prevention in the nursing home setting. The first session is tomorrow – Thursday, May 28, 2020 from 4pm to 5pm (ET). Here’s the link to REGISTER.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Yes, you read that right.  CMS posted the draft version of the MDS 3.0 Item Set that we were to start using October 1, 2020 but a couple of events in particular prompted CMS to remove v1.18.1 back on March 19th: CMS is delaying the…… Continue reading No MDS 3.0 v1.18.1 – But There Will Be MDS 3.0 v1.17.2

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare From one Nurse Assessment Coordinator to all others: Happy NAC Day!!  Nurses Week ends today, on Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday.  (The International Year of the Nurse and Midwife continues through December 31st.)  Today is also the day that Nurse Assessment Coordinators in long-term care facilities…… Continue reading Happy NAC Day!

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late in the day on Friday, May 8, 2020, CMS posted these updates: Federal Regulatory Groups for Long Term Care Survey Resources – UPDATED: 5/7/2020 (ZIP) Revision History for LTC Survey Process Documents and Files Here’s what’s been updated: Note that the Survey Resources are…… Continue reading Federal Regulatory Groups (F-Tags) and Survey Resources for LTC Updated

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted an updated Five-Star Technical Users’ Guide this morning, April 29, 2020. The following statement appears on the page prior to the Introduction page: April 2020 Revisions: Temporary Changes due to COVID-I9 On March 23, CMS announced a new, targeted inspection plan designed to…… Continue reading Five-Star Technical Users’ Guide Updated

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted QSO-20-28-NH late in the day on Friday.  Here’s the Memorandum Summary for this 15-page notification: A couple of the subjects in this notification speak to surveys, quality measures and staffing domains (MDS and PBJ).  I’ve highlighted key verbiage in both: “Due to the…… Continue reading CMS Updates for Nursing Homes – Friday, April 24, 2020

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare ezPBJ, a Briggs family member, has received new details from CMS regarding its recent PBJ reporting waiver. The original PBJ reporting waiver (issued two weeks ago) stated that nursing facilities do not have to submit Q1 (Jan. 1–Mar. 31) data by May 15. We reached…… Continue reading CMS Update: New Guidance on PBJ Reporting Waiver