The Minimum Data Set manual will be revised to reflect a new correction policy, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced.
The revision affects which records can be changed through modification and which need to be changed through inactivation. Currently, an inactivation request is necessary to address errors such as type of provider, type of assessment, entry date, discharge date and assessment reference date. Modifications can be requested for errors on clinical items, including data entry errors.
When the new policy takes effect on May 19, modifications may be used to correct typographical errors in some items that are currently corrected through inactivation.
There are some nuances to the new policy. For example, providers will be able to use modification to correct typographical errors in type of assessment items when there is no Item Set Code (ISC) change. If there is an ISC change as a result of the correction, inactivation must be used.
New error messages will also be generated when the change takes effect. Two of these — 1061 and 1062 — will indicate that a modification may have been done when an inactivation was needed. A third new message — 3893 — is a “fatal error” that will indicate that the Item Set Code changed as a result of the correction, and modification therefore was not allowed.
Details about the changes are provided in a CMS PowerPoint presentation, including information about what constitutes a typographical error. Click here to access the slides.
MDS best practices will be addressed in today’s McKnight’s Super Tuesday webcast, featuring The Alliance Training Center Executive Director Leah Klusch, RN, BSN, FACHCA. Registration is free, and continuing education credits are available for attendees. Click here to register.
