Effective May 19, 2013, skilled nursing facility (SNF) providers will have more leeway in the minimum data set (MDS) 3.0 assessment correction policy. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the revision to Chapter 5 of the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User’s Manua l for the MDS 3.0 during the May 2, 2013, Open Door Forum. The current correction policy in Chapter 5 of the RAI manual, “Submission and Correction of the MDS Assessments,” will only allow facilities to inactivate an assessment if an error is discovered in the following items: A0200 – Type of Provider A0310 – Type of Assessment A1600 – Entry Date (on an entry tracking record) A2000 – Discharge Date (on a discharge/death in facility record) A2300 – Assessment Reference Date (ARD) For SNFs completing Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) assessments, the current policy results in default billing, as the ARD of the new assessment must be no earlier than the date the error was identified
