OASIS Alert

Education :

KEEP UP WITH M0 CLARIFICATIONS FOR OASIS ACCURACY

Remember OASIS data collection has its own vocabulary.

Scenario: You admit an elderly woman who was released from the hospital after surgery to remove several tumors, including one inside her mouth. She has stitches closing two incisions on her chin and cheek and one inside her mouth.

Question: When answering M0484 (Current number of [observable] surgical wounds) you answer:

A) Two, because the patient is reluctant to open her mouth and you can't observe the wound in her mouth without causing her pain.

B) Two, because you only count surgical incisions on the external skin surfaces.

C) Three, because she can open her mouth just enough so you can see the incision.

Answer: The correct answer is B.

Surgical incisions in the oral mucosa, like incisions resulting from cataract or vaginal surgery, would not be considered a surgical wound for M0482 (Does this patient have a surgical wound) and M0484, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services clarified in its January 2009 OASIS questions and answers. Only certain types of wounds are considered surgical wounds for these OASIS items, CMS says.

The mucosal incision is also not considered a skin lesion for M0440 (Does this patient have a skin lesion or open wound), CMS adds. "M0440 captures skin lesions or an open wound to the integumentary system.

Mucosal membranes are not to be considered as part of the integumentary system for the purposes of OASIS data collection," Q&A number 10 explains.

Note: CMS OASIS Q&As are at www.oasiscertificate.org. Click on "Resources."