Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated and illuminated quality failings in nursing homes, persistent equity issues, and the system- and policy-level factors that contribute to their endurance. To begin seeking ways to address these issues, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) conducted a 90-day innovation project to identify…… Continue reading Enhancing Quality Improvement Adoption in US Nursing Homes 

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Two additions to the OIG Work Plan for LTC caught my eye: Assessment of CMS’s Early Use of Payroll-Based Journal Data To Improve Enforcement of Nursing Home Staffing Standards: In October 2022, CMS began to provide State Survey Agency surveyors (State surveyors) with extracts of Payroll-Based…… Continue reading January 2023 Additions to the OIG Work Plan 

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare This information is intended for Long Term Care Facility Administrators, Directors of Nursing, MDS Coordinators, Registered Nurses, and Social Services staff who work directly with the Minimum Data Set (MDS).  The Licensing and Certification Program at the Minnesota Department of Health is offering three free MDS…… Continue reading MN LTC Providers: Register NOW for MDS Education for Nursing Home Staff – Space Limited!  

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Version 3.2 – iQIES User Roles Matrix Job Aid (17 pages) was updated and posted on February 9, 2023. New to this version from the previous (3.1 – January 2023) is Contractor User Roles and Contract Surveyor Permissions on page 15.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The submission deadline for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH), and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Programs is approaching. IRF Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF-PAI) assessment data and data submitted to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via the Centers for Disease…… Continue reading IRF/LTCH/SNF QRP February 15, 2023 Submission Deadline Reminder

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has partnered with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) to set up a national forum for infection preventionists and infection prevention champions working in long term care (LTC).The forum provides a platform to rapidly disseminate updates…… Continue reading Join the New LTC National Infection Prevention Forum

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The GAO publicly released this 39-page report on February 2, 2023. The accessible version (44 pages) is found here. “CMS provides oversight of the nation’s over 15,000 nursing homes that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This includes ensuring that homes have met certain quality…… Continue reading GAO: CMS Should Make (Nursing Home) Ownership Information More Transparent for Consumers

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted the entire Appendix PP with revision date of February 3, 2023.  It can be found here. It now has 863 pages; the October 21, 2022 version had 856 pages. Last Friday, February 3rd, CMS posted this version which was incomplete, at the very…… Continue reading CMS Posts Full Revised Appendix PP

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted Transmittal 211, dated February 3, 2023 late afternoon Thursday, February 2, 2023. No need to panic as this version of Appendix PP corrects technical issues as noted above in the Summary as well as below: The actual revised Appendix PP begins on page 3…… Continue reading Revisions to Appendix PP – State Operations Manual (SOM)