HCPro.com: PPS Alert for Long-Term Care

Looking for a tool to make your job easier? PPS Alert for Long-Term Care, exclusively for the RN or MDS coordinator, is your survival guide for complying with PPS.

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May 2007 (Volume 10, Issue 5)	view entire issue

MDS 3.0 resident self-report items
CMS has yet to set an implementation date for the MDS Version 3.0, noted agency officials during the March 23 Webcast, "Improving Nursing Home Quality and Pay-ment." However, nursing homes don't have to wait for MDS 3.0 implementation to derive some benefits from the instrument. Key MDS 3.0 items are based on direct, structured resident interviews designed to give residents a voice in their assessments and consequently improve the nursing home's quality of care, said Debra Saliba, MD, MPH, MDS 3.0 validation principal investigator at RAND, Inc., in Santa Monica, CA.

Part A therapy requirements: Look to your payment source for answers
In late March, CMS rescinded Transmittal 65, which would have applied some of the current Medi-care Part B therapy payment policies to Part A claims for therapy services by updating Chapter 1, "Inpatient Hospital Services Covered Under Part A" of the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual. The transmittal's cancellation allows CMS to further review the proposed changes, particularly the qualifications for personnel providing Part A therapy services, say agency officials.

New surveyor guidance slated for summer
CMS has backpedaled on its earlier promise that there would be no more F-tags in fiscal year 2007, and is now saying something different. CMS addressed this and other issues during the Skilled Nursing Facility/ Long-Term Care Open Door Forum in March. Below is a summary of the latest developments. Nursing homes should expect to see new surveyor guidance on eating assistants, F-tag #373, around June, said CMS officials. In addition, revised guidance on accidents and supervision, F-tags #323 and #324, should be released in late July.

PPS Q&A
Editor's note: "PPS Q&A" is written by Rena R. Shephard, MHA, RN, FACDONA, RAC-CT, founding chair and executive editor of the American Assoc-iation of Nurse Assessment Coordinators and president of RRS Healthcare Consulting Services in San Diego.

Other recently-published articles from PPS Alert for Long-Term Care:

Focus on interviewing skills and working with vendors

PPS Q&A

The 2009 SNF PPS rates for Medicare

Make communication the key to successful care planning at your facility

Keys to keeping PPS assessments on schedule

CMS finally clarifies default billing

Learn the difference: Late vs. missed assessments

Counting therapy minutes: Use a triple-check review to ensure accuracy

PPS Q&A

Coding therapy on the MDS: Make sure minutes are coded accurately to avoid denials

Working the RAPs successfully: A guide to the process

RAP documentation: Achieve compliance

PPS Q&A

The RAPs: What they can do for you

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