MDS Alert

Reader Question:

Know When Flu Vaccine Counts for QMs

Question: How does the influenza vaccination show up on quality measures (QMs)?

Illinois Subscriber

Answer: “This measure is only calculated once per 12-month influenza season which begins on July 1 of a given year and ends on June 30 of the subsequent year and reports data for residents who were in the facility for at least one day during the target period of October 1 through March 31,” the MDS 3.0 Quality Measures User’s Manual says on page 29.

The resident being in the facility for more or fewer than 100 days determines whether the vaccination shows up as a long-stay or short-stay quality measure. Note that the selection period for the calculation “uses a June 30th end date to ensure residents who are vaccinated between October 1 and March 31, but do not have an assessment completed until after March 31, are captured in the measure sample,” the QM User’s Manual says on page 5.

Resource: Find the manual, effective Oct. 1, 2019, here:  www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/Downloads/MDS-30-QM-USERS-MANUAL-v121.pdf. 

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