CMS FY 2021 will be here in a few short days and with it the changes that have been finalized by CMS in the final rule on July 31st. One of the important changes that will occur this year has to do with the wage index. The wage index is an adjustment made to the… Continue reading Wage Indexes are Changing. Get Ready for Yours!
Author: Joel VanEaton
FY 2021 SNF PPS Final Rule, what you need to know!
In just a few short weeks, we will begin the second FY since the initiation of the PDPM. With the unprecedented encounter we have had with the COVID PHE, there have been decisions on the part of CMS to limit the number of obvious changes that were to take effect this fall. However, due to… Continue reading FY 2021 SNF PPS Final Rule, what you need to know!
MDS v1.17.2 – What Changed?
This week, CMS surprised us with a revised version of the MDS that will be effective this fall for FY 2021. It is a surprise because nothing about this particular change was mentioned in the proposed rule posted in April. CMS has indicated in the May posting on the MDS Technical Information page that in… Continue reading MDS v1.17.2 – What Changed?
Covid-19 Update to Documentation Navigator™
What makes for a successful future focus on Covid-19? A Clinically knowledgeable, Quality measurement, interdisciplinary approach. Future thinking requires us to evaluate our capacity as interdisciplinary teams as we leverage the RAI to provide care (RAI – MDS, CAAs, Care Planning), get paid appropriately (PDPM) and achieve desired outcomes (Quality Measurement). For this reason, we… Continue reading Covid-19 Update to Documentation Navigator™
SNFs and the Covid-19 Waivers vol.1
Covid-19 information has been coming our way at a fast and furious rate the last few weeks. CMS has been releasing a vast amount of information related to waivers etc. intended to alleviate some of the strain at the facility level. We thought it would be helpful to put together a serial BLOG of the… Continue reading SNFs and the Covid-19 Waivers vol.1
QM Savvy in a QRP World
As an industry, PAC is heading toward a “one world” system. Universal Post-Acute Care, or UPAC is what this will be known as. The IMPACT Act has legislated that soon, LTACHs, IRFs, SNFs and HHs will all be driven by site neutral quality measurement and site neutral payment. The Quality Reporting Program has been materializing… Continue reading QM Savvy in a QRP World
The Name of the Game is SPADEs
It has been said that, “A little bit goes a long way”. And, as an industry, that little bit has been quite a lot as we have geared up for and implemented the PDPM. I for one am feeling the effects of the long way this “little bit” has taken us. Now that we have… Continue reading The Name of the Game is SPADEs
As if PDPM Weren’t Enough (Part 1)
Here we go! Are you ready for the ride? Just when you thought, “PDPM is finally here so we can take a break on the learning curve”, think again. “No rest for the weary”, could not be a truer statement. On 10/9, CMS released revisions to 4 important documents that providers will need to assimilate,… Continue reading As if PDPM Weren’t Enough (Part 1)
CMS Updates the PDPM Website
On Friday August 30th, CMS slipped in a PDPM website update, presumably with the latest revisions to the PDPM that seem to be a natural result of questions and clarifications arising from the Final Rule posting in July, the two training sessions that CMS provided in Kansas City and Baltimore as well as the recent… Continue reading CMS Updates the PDPM Website
CMS Releases 2020 Proposed Rule – The Highlights
As you may be aware, on April 19th CMS released the FY 2020 SNF PPS Proposed Rule that sets forth the proposed updates to FY 2020 beginning Oct 1, 2019 . As you know, CMS finalized the Patient Driven Payment Model in last year’s final rule, so the proposed rule contains mostly expected revisions related… Continue reading CMS Releases 2020 Proposed Rule – The Highlights