Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Yesterday, July 23, 2019, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) posted interim guidance that “should be implemented in the context of a comprehensive infection prevention program to prevent transmission of all infectious agents among patients, HCP, and visitors.” Healthcare settings refers to “places where…… Continue reading Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Measles in Healthcare Settings

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training course on how to properly code of Section GG. This 45-minute course is intended for providers in the following care settings: Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities…… Continue reading Updated Section GG Online Training Course Available for PAC Providers

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Early in April, the Briggs Healthcare® family – Briggs, SimpleLTC and ezPBJ – were proud to sponsor several learning opportunities during the AANAC/AADNS annual conference in Orlando, FL. We are excited to make the Learning Lab session handouts available to you! PDPM: How per-diem affects…… Continue reading Looking for Some Bright Ideas on Managing Regulation Change – Including PDPM?

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® Attention: MDS, OASIS, IRF, SWB, EPOC, PBJ and others using QIES remote access. An upgrade is required to the Juniper VPN Network Client software (Network Connect Client) currently used by the QIES community to log-in to CMSNet for required submission and reporting. The upgrade will…… Continue reading QIES Community Juniper VPN Network Client Upgrade: Important Service

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare®   Background The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) serves a critical quality assurance function for our country’s healthcare system.  Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) will undergo a series of system enhancements resulting in what will be now called the Internet Quality Improvement…… Continue reading Remote Identify Proofing Requirements for Internet Quality Improvement Evaluation System (iQIES)

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® The Alzheimer’s Association released its annual report last week.  The 90-page full report and the infographic are well worth the read. Here’s some quick, sobering facts found in this report: Alzheimer’s Disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S. Between 2000 and…… Continue reading 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Report Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS issued Transmittal 186 – Revisions to State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix Z, Emergency Preparedness for All Provider and Certified Supplier Types on March 4, 2019.   The first 2 pages of this 53-page document provide summary of changes, revised chapter/section/subsection, etc. with the remaining pages…… Continue reading Revisions to SOM Appendix Z – Emergency Preparedness for All Provider and Certified Supplier Types

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® Looking for some reading material this weekend? A good portion of the country is slated for nasty weather so why not settle in front of the fireplace with some hot cocoa and review 2017 Medicare utilization statistics. These statistics contain trends, demographics, state and other…… Continue reading 2017 Program Statistics Released

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS has posted updates to Appendix Z – Emergency Preparedness. QSO19-06-ALL has a posting date of February 1, 2019.  The updates are effective immediately.  Here are the key points CMS makes in the Discussion section of this Survey & Certification notice (I have bolded the key…… Continue reading Emergency Preparedness – Updates to Appendix Z of the State Operations Manual

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® Updates to Reflect Removal of Functional Reporting Requirements and Therapy – Transmittal 4214/Change Request 11120 was posted on Friday, January 25, 2019.  “The purpose of this Change Request (CR) is to update chapter 5 to reflect recent changes in outpatient therapy service billing instructions and payment…… Continue reading CMS Posts Two Transmittals/One Change Request Impacting Part B Therapy