RAI

There's a familiar saying in the industry that "If it's not documented, then it's not done." But what if it is documented, but just not documented correctly?

Nursing homes have heard the warnings and been advised at every turn lately. Now, it's time to do it right, or risk losing out on reimbursements. Significant changes have been made to the new MDS 3.0 form go into effect Sunday. After then, ignorance of new provisions will start costing providers, experts warn. Discharge procedures, as well as resident interviews, are two of the top areas with the most notable changes. Providers have been advised to simply get new RAI manuals if they can, rather than to try to incorporate the multitude of revised or new pages.

Are you properly capturing set-up time? What on Earth am I talking about? I'm talking about utilizing the regulation as outlined in the Resident Assessment Instrument, version MDS 3.0.

A release of newly updated material for the RAI (Resident Assessment Instrument) manual used by nursing home operators is expected this morning. Also, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expects to have the "completely revised manual" out by June 18, the agency's Thomas Dudley said Thursday during a conference call.

Despite new political turmoil and uncertainty about the fate of healthcare reform, nursing home operators can still expect the scheduled Oct. 1 implementation of the new MDS 3.0 resident assessment tool to take place, federal regulators said Thursday.

Nursing home providers can finally begin taking the next step in preparation for the MDS 3.0: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released the MDS 3.0 Item Set, which contains information on the final version of the new assessment tool.