Image of nurses' hands at computer keyboard

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for thefirst time is requesting advance registration for a nursing home “OpenDoor Forum.” The federal regulatory body will report results of itsfive-year MDS 3.0 “validation” study at the forum at 1 p.m. (Easterntime) on Jan. 24.

Registration is free but must be completed by 2 p.m.(Eastern) on Jan. 22, officials said. Registration can be accomplished onlineat https://registration.intercall.com/menu.php?short_name=cms2.

A regular Open Door forum that late last year unveiledthe implementation timeline for MDS 3.0 attracted well over 1,000 listeners andattendees, dwarfing that of previous sessions.

The Minimum Data Set (MDS) is a critical tool forfacilities seeking reimbursement from government sources. The MDS has not seenwide scale clinical updating as is proposed since 1995. The new MDS isscheduled to begin implementation on Oct. 1, 2009.