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CMS ’STRIVES’ to update payment system

Executive Briefings Digest, February 21, 2006

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Get ready to learn a new acronym: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification (STRIVE) project, which will lead to an update of the Resource Utilization Group (RUG) payment system that Medicare and Medicaid agencies currently use.

CMS rolled out details of the project to providers during a special open door forum on December 13, 2005. The last time CMS conducted a national time study in skilled nursing facilities (SNF) was in 1997.

STRIVE's goal is to portray more accurately the use of staff time in SNFs so CMS can recalibrate the case-mix indexes for the current RUG system. CMS contracted with the Iowa Foundation for Medicare Care to conduct the study, which will include approximately 12,000 residents in 240 facilities in 15 states. Participating nursing homes will begin collecting data for the one-year study in April. Staff who provide direct resident care will use pocket personal computers to track their time spent with or on behalf of a resident.

Source: Billing Alert for Long-Term Care

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