What do I need to know about the Drug Regimen Review quality measure that goes into effect Oct. 1?
The IMPACT Act of 2014 requires the development of quality measures and skilled nursing facilities to report quality data. Drug Regimen Review with Follow-Up for Identified Issues is a new quality measure that will start to be gathered Oct. 1, 2018, and will impact reimbursement beginning FY2020.
This measure continues to reflect Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services goals of reducing adverse events in nursing homes and reducing the use of unnecessary drugs. There are three new Section N items on the MDS beginning October 1, 2018 to capture this quality data for measurement.
Two of the items will be gathered with the initial MDS including “Did a complete drug regimen review identify potential clinically significant medication issues?” and “Did the facility contact a physician (or physician-designee) by midnight of the next calendar day and complete prescribed/recommended actions in response to the identified potential clinically significant medication issues?”
The third question will be answered on the Discharge from PPS assessment. “Did the facility contact and complete physician (or physician-designee) prescribed/recommended actions by midnight of the next calendar day each time potential clinically significant medication issues were identified since the admission?” CMS estimates 10 extra minutes of MDS nurse time. This measure looks at if providers were proactive to potential or actual clinically significant medication issues during a skilled stay.
It is important for sta to understand the definitions. Medication reconciliation makes sure that everyone has the most accurate and current list of medications: Looking at name, dose, frequency and route.
Please send your payment-related questions to Patricia Boyer at [email protected].
From the September 01, 2018 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
