On May 9, 2013, the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Open Door Forum announced upcoming updates to the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) manual. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the new RAI manual version 1.10 and change tables on May 20
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
The May 11, 2012, Federal Register includes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule changes to the Long-Term Care Hospitals Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) for federal fiscal year 2013. Among the changes in the proposed rule: LTCH Rate Updates: The proposed LTCH-specific market is based solely on Medicare cost report data of LTCHs and excludes Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) and Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs) for the first time
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made some very restrictive interpretations of what costs are eligible for electronic health records (EHR) incentive payments for critical access hospitals (CAHs). These interpretations could seriously limit CAH options for obtaining, financing and paying for a viable EHR system and limit the incentive payments Medicare will pay. The problems revolve around the language in Section 1814(l)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act .