MDS Alert

MDS 3.0 Training:

Benefit From These Inexpensive Training Tips for MDS 3.0 Interviews

Tap these knowledgeable resources.

Mastering the MDS 3.0 interviews will help ensure your RAI process is on track come Oct. 1. And training on how to navigate the questions and responses need not break the bank, if you follow these key tips.

You can use staff from one department to practice doing the MDS 3.0 interview on staff from another department, suggests Elisa Bovee, OT R/L, director of education and training for Harmony Healthcare International in Topsfield, Mass. "For example, nurses interview social workers, and social workers interview the rehab staff."

Don't rule out: Physicians could help the staff learn how to interview patients, noted Leonard Gelman, MD, CMD, recounting a suggestion from an American Medical Directors Association conferee at the organization's March 2010 annual conference. This might be a role that the medical director could play in getting involved with the MDS 3.0. Also consider implementing some of the MDS 3.0 interviews now, which can put staff a step ahead of the learning curve. For example, Karyn Leible, MD, CMD, has already implemented the Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) in the facilities where she serves as a medical director, she reported in an AMDA co-presentation with Gelman. Implementing the BIMS helps the facilities prepare for the MDS 3.0, but it also allows the facilities to capture better data than they can when using other tools, Leible said.

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