Long-Term Care Survey Alert

Survey Update:

CMS Officials Provide the Scoop on 4 MDS-Related Changes

Make sure you're using the revised CMS-802 form.

The MDS 3.0 is shaking up the survey and quality reporting realms. Here's a rundown of what to expect in various areas, according to a CMS presentation at the October 2010 American Association of Nurse Assessment

Coordinators fall meeting in Baltimore attended by Eli.

1. Changes to the Quality Indicator Survey. The QIS has been using the MDS 2.0 for over 50 quality care and life indicators, said CMS' Karen Schoeneman. And the QIS contractors will take time to incorporate the MDS 3.0, which they are in the process of doing.

That doesn't mean surveyors won't be able to detect quality-related issues in the interim, however. The QIS has a lot of redundancy built into it, Schoeneman observed. So whether the issue is falls, pressure ulcers, or weight loss, etc., you can find a trigger through observations, interviews, chart reviews, discharge record reviews, etc., she said.

Schoeneman also dispelled rumors that CMS is dropping the Quality Indicator Survey, which is slowly rolling out nationwide. "People said that about MDS 3.0," she pointed out. And the MDS came out on Oct. 1.

2. Temporary changes to the traditional survey. The MDS 3.0 QI/QM "blackout" does affect the traditional  survey, which has reverted to the process in place before CMS automated the survey process (for details on what to expect and do, see the lead story in Long-Term Care Survey Alert, Vol. 12, No. 10).

3. Revisions to survey forms/instructions. CMS has also released a new CMS-802 (roster/sample matrix) form which includes changes to the resident characteristics fields and instructions, Schoeneman noted.

Specifically: The revision accommodates the MDS 3.0 coding for the three fields of "falls, fractures, abrasions, bruises, behavior symptoms, and depression," according to a recent survey and certification memo. CMS has also changed the instructions to the CMS-672 resident census form to reflect the MDS 3.0. To review the new CMS- 802 form and the revised instructions for the CMS-672,