MDS Alert
MDS & Billing News
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--Ready for a Medicare Part A reimbursement boost? The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced an increase of approximately $690 million in payments for SNFs in fiscal year 2008.
SNFs will receive a 3.3 percent payment increase for the fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, 2007.
Good news: The new payment rates also continue to include the 128 percent adjustment made to cover the additional services required by nursing home residents with HIV/AIDS.
"Compared to the proposed rule issued in May, the final rule updates some of the variables input for the RUG calculations but won't have a dramatic effect" on rates, relays Steven Jones, CPA, with Moore Stephens Lovelace PA in Clearwater, FL. For example, "the unadjusted federal rates for rural SNFs increased slightly and the urban rates declined slightly," Jones tells MDS Alert. A full copy of the SNF PPS final rule for FY 2008 is available on the CMS Website at www.cms.hhs.gov/.
MDS Alert
- MDS Accuracy:
Is 'Garbage In, Out' Syndrome Trashing Your MDSs?
5 ways to keep your assessments and coding from going astray.
Over time, inaccurate MDS assessments [...] - ADL Coding Tipster:
Dig Deeper When You See Limited Assistance
That holds especially true for a rehab patient.
You don't want inaccurately reported limited assistance for [...] - Pressure Ulcers:
New Staging Guidelines Increase Pressure To Juggle Standard Of Care And MDS Coding
Navigate the growing gap between the NPUAP guidelines and MDS.
The updated National Pressure Ulcer Advisory [...] - Medicare:
If A Resident Has Dehydration, Look To See If You've Captured These Conditions, Services
This way your coffers won't run dry due to untapped payment.
If a resident has dehydration, [...] - Risk Management Tip:
Chart The Good News About A Resident With A Wound
Spell out how the resident is doing well.
Suppose a nurse doesn't document that a patient [...] - Best Practices:
Prevent Unnecessary Rehospitalizations With Triage And Lab Strategies
Don't be known as the SNF that bounces residents back to the hospital.
Concern about rehospitalization [...] - What Do You Think? Which ICD-9-CM Code Should You Use For Dehydration?
The ICD-9 manual used to have only one catch-all code for volume depletion, which was [...] - Best Practices:
Certain MDS Items Flag Residents With Higher Acuity
Let your documentation spell out your assessment, care.
If your preadmission or admission assessment reveals a [...] - Coding Quizzer:
Would You Code Abnormal Labs At P9 For These Residents?
Question No. 1: Mrs. Smith receives warfarin (Coumadin) for a recent bout of thrombophlebitis. Mrs. [...] - Trends:
Could The CARE Postacute Assessment Tool Replace The MDS?
Find out why you should care about the CARE.
Potentially coming to SNFs, home health, inpatient [...] - Continuing Education:
Hear The Latest And Greatest About Urinary Incontinence, Pressure Ulcer Care
Get a 15 percent discount on your next audioconference.
Incontinence affects more [...] - Clip and Save:
Evaluate Infection Assessment
Find out if your approach needs debugging.
Does your facility complete a comprehensive assessment for residents [...] - MDS & Billing News
--Ready for a Medicare Part A reimbursement boost? The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [...]