Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Coalition is excited to share nine Action Plans for nursing home quality improvement! Each is an opportunity to improve the quality of life and work of nursing home residents and staff. Please consider joining us in this team effort to make every nursing home a community…… Continue reading Moving Forward NH Quality Coalition Introduces 9 Action Plans

 Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Recent severe weather events have highlighted the need for and importance of emergency power systems for nursing homes. Nursing homes are required to provide an alternate source of energy (usually a generator) to maintain temperatures to protect residents’ health and safety, as well as for food…… Continue reading July 2023 OIG Work Plan Addition: Audit of Nursing Homes’ Emergency Power Systems

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering an updated video tutorial to assist providers with guidance application and interview strategies for the cognitive assessment known as the Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) found in the MDS 3.0 RAI v1.18.11, effective October 1,…… Continue reading Updated Resource Available: BIMS Video Tutorial

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare This article is a very interesting read.  It was posted by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Friday, July 14, 2023 – same title as this blog. I encourage you to review and share it with your team and colleagues. “This data note explores the current state…… Continue reading What Share of Nursing Facilities Would Meet Possible New Staffing Requirements?

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the October 2023 refresh. The data contained within the Preview Reports are…… Continue reading SNF Provider Preview Reports Now Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare DOH unveils intent to freeze case mix, aspiration to transition from RUGs to PDPM case mix methodology. In a meeting with LeadingAge NY and other associations earlier today (July 11th) on nursing home Medicaid issues, Department of Health (DOH) Bureau of Long Term Care Rate Setting…… Continue reading New York State Medicaid Case Mix: No OSA – Transitioning to PDPM

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Rhode Island will require the use of the Optional State Assessment (OSA) for Nursing Facilities Reimbursement effective October 1, 2023 Background: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is ending support for Resource Utilization Groups (RUG)-III and RUG-IV on federally required assessments for patients residing…… Continue reading Rhode Island – Medicaid Case Mix Reimbursement

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare “This communication serves as an update for all nursing facility providers regarding changes in reimbursement as a result of Am. Sub. H.B. 33, the states FY24-25 biennial budget. Please share this with corporate staff, nursing facility administrators, billing staff, MDS nurses, etc. as needed. July rates…… Continue reading Ohio Budget and Medicaid Reimbursement

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The final Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Item Sets version (v)1.18.11 have been updated and are now available in the Downloads section on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) Manual page. The IPA, NP, and SP Item Sets have been replaced with…… Continue reading UPDATED: Final MDS 3.0 Item Sets Version 1.18.11 v4

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare For flu, pneumococcal, and COVID-19 vaccines furnished on or after July 1, 2023, to patients in a Medicare Part A-covered skilled nursing facility (SNF) stay, immunizers can no longer bill Medicare directly. Typical SNF consolidated billing regulations are in place, which require SNFs to bill for…… Continue reading SNFs: COVID-19 Enforcement Discretion for Pharmacy Billing Ended June 30th