Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The next CMS Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF)/Long Term Care (LTC) Open Door Forum scheduled for: Date:  Thursday, August 8, 2019 Start Time:  2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern Time (ET); Please dial-in at least 15 minutes before call start time. Conference Leaders: Todd Smith &…… Continue reading CMS SNF/LTC Open Door Forum – August 8, 2019

  Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Are you ready for the switch to PDPM? Join us in Denton, TX on Aug 13-14 to learn how to maximize your diagnosis coding practices for PDPM. In this in-depth two-day training event, you’ll increase your knowledge of the regulatory aspects and ethics of diagnosis coding…… Continue reading ICD-10 Class: Diagnosis Coding in a PDPM World

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late yesterday, July 30, 2019, CMS issued FY2020 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule – CMS-1718-F.  This SNF PPS Final Rule will take effect on October 1, 2019.  The Final Rule includes updates to the payment rates used under the SNF…… Continue reading FY 2020 SNF PPS Final Rule Released

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Here’s a great opportunity to learn more about the SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program: Description During this call, learn about your Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program Performance Score Report. CMS experts present a high-level summary of the program and highlight the payment…… Continue reading Understanding Your SNF VBP Program Performance Score Report Call

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has posted a guide that “explains our approach to using claims data to identify incidents of potential abuse or neglect of vulnerable populations. The guide synthesized the methodologies that OIG developed in our extensive work on identifying unreported critical…… Continue reading Resource Guide for Using Diagnosis Codes in Health Insurance Claims to Help Identify Unreported Abuse or Neglect

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS, through MLN, is conducting a 90-minute national call on September 10, 2019 for nursing home providers, surveyors, prescribers, professional associations and other interested stakeholders with “insight on approaches to care for residents living with dementia that focus on resident preferences, maintaining comfort, and assisting…… Continue reading Dementia Care: Supporting Comfort and Resident Preferences Call

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Yesterday, July 16, 2019, CMS provided notification of 2 rules that will impact LTC facilities: one final and one proposed.  Let’s look at the proposed rule first – CMS-3347-P: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities: Regulatory Provisions to Promote Efficiency, and Transparency.…… Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: CMS Proposed and Final Rules Announced for LTC

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting a 2-day Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) in-person ‘Train the Trainer’ event for providers on August 13 and 14, 2019, at the Four Seasons Hotel, 200 International Drive, Baltimore, MD 21202.…… Continue reading SNF QRP Train the Trainer Sessions – August 13 & 14, 2019 (In-Person & Webcast)

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The QIES Technical Support Office has posted the July 2019 Downtime Schedule. Possible QIES scheduled downtime begins Tuesday, July 2, at 8:00 PM (ET) and ends at 11:00 PM (ET) Possible QIES scheduled downtime begins Tuesday, July 16, at 8:00 PM (ET) and ends at…… Continue reading July 2019 QIES Downtime Schedule and Five-Star/SNF Provider Preview Reports

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted an update to Appendix B of the RAI Manual with a date of June 27, 2019. Appendix B contains the list and email addresses of State RAI Coordinators, MDS Automation Coordinators, RAI Panel members and Regional Office contacts. CMS updates this 6-page…… Continue reading Updated RAI Manual Appendix B Available