Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® The last SNF/LTC Open Door Forum was held back on November 2, 2017. We’ve been waiting for the next ODF!! Here’s the information that CMS posted on February 28, 2018: The next CMS Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF)/Long Term Care (LTC) Open Door Forum scheduled for:…… Continue reading CMS Schedules Next SNF/LTC Open Door Forum

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS is hosting a National Training Program on Wednesday, March 8, 2018 from 1pm to 2:30pm (Eastern Time) to provide an overview of the new Medicare card educational resources. Register for this webinar here. The new Medicare cards will be mailed out to all Medicare…… Continue reading New Medicare Card Educational Resources Webinar

By Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP, Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® This week, CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Office of Antibiotic Stewardship announced an “interactive web-based activity (with) the first of four sections designed to help clinicians optimize antibiotic use to combat antibiotic resistance and improve healthcare quality and patient safety. This course…… Continue reading CDC Training on Antibiotic Stewardship

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® A national call is scheduled for March 20, 2018 from 1:30pm to 3pm (Eastern time) to: Gain insight on the Phase 2 changes for person-centered care planning and discharge planning and Learn about the new Alzheimer’s Association Dementia Care Practice Recommendations. CMS will share updates…… Continue reading Person-Centered Care Planning and Practice Recommendations Call Dementia Care in Nursing Homes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS posted an updated FAQ document on February 6, 2018. The 25-page document identifies January 26, 2018 as the date. “This Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) document contains questions and answers about Long Term Care (LTC) regulations, the survey process, technical questions, and other related LTC…… Continue reading CMS Updates LTC Regulations, Survey Process and Training FAQ Document

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late January 2018, CMS posted this announcement regarding the SNFABN notice that skilled facilities must issue to Medicare beneficiaries before the facility provides: an item or service that is usually paid for by Medicare, but may not be paid for in this particular instance because…… Continue reading CMS Revises SNFABN (CMS-10055)

By Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP, Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® Mid-day on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, CMS notified providers that the enhanced MDS 3.0 Quality Measure Reports are posted online and available for viewing.  That announcement came from info@QTSO via email.  It can also be found here. Announcement:  Enhanced MDS 3.0 Quality Measure Reports Available…… Continue reading Enhanced MDS 3.0 Quality Measure (QM) Reports Available

By Mary Madison, RN RAC-CT, CDP, Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® The deadline for data submission for Fiscal Quarter 1 2018 (October 1 – December 31) is February 14, 2018, 11:59 PM EST.  Data submission for this quarter will be temporarily unavailable beginning at 12:01 AM EST February 15, 2018.  CMS will re-open for late data…… Continue reading Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) Fiscal Quarter 1 2018 Deadline

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP, Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Mid-afternoon on January 26, 2018, QTSO posted this announcement: The reports and report package in the MDS 3.0 QM Reports category in the CASPER Reporting application will be unavailable beginning 01/29/2018 while new measures are being added to the reports. The reports that will be…… Continue reading MDS 3.0 Quality Measure (QM) Reports Unavailable Beginning Jan 29, 2018

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP, Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS has recently released two (2) updated tools to allow facilities to assess their own dementia care practices for providing resident care. 2018_Focused Dementia Care Survey: Facility-Specific Questions is a 3-page worksheet that addresses your facility’s: Demographics Dementia Care Policies, Leadership & Documentation Dementia Training and…… Continue reading Focused Dementia Survey Tools Updated