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Navigate new and improved therapy assessments

PPS Alert for Long-Term Care, August 1, 2010

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to PPS Alert for Long-Term Care.

The October implementation of the MDS 3.0 will be here before we know it, and educating staff members about all the changes included in the new assessment tool is essential to prepare for the transition. However, facilities may want to pay particular attention to those changes that have a significant effect on processes and RUG calculation, such as the elimination of Section T and the subsequent introduction of new assessments and requirements for capturing therapy services.  

Placing a resident in the appropriate rehab RUG can be difficult with the Medicare five-day assessment because the amount of therapy provided in the first few days of the resident’s SNF stay may not reflect the true intensity of services he or she will receive. When this occurs, facilities can complete Section T of the MDS 2.0, which uses the therapy treatment plan to project how much therapy a resident will receive in the first 14 days of his or her SNF stay and assign the corresponding rehab RUG category. However, the Government Accountability Office found that “one-quarter of the patients classified using the estimated therapy minutes did not receive the amount of therapy they were assessed as needing,” according to the fiscal year 2010 SNF final rule. 

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to PPS Alert for Long-Term Care.

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