Wow! What a year this has been. I am stunned that it is actually December 15th. Where has time gone?
As we reminisce on the last year and look toward all of the changes that are coming our way in 2023, CMS has opened the tap to allow a dribble of information related to MDS 3.0v1.18.11.
Recently, CMS released a set of cue cards for the new PHQ 2-9, the version of the depression interview that will be effective Oct. 1, 2023. Originally, they were released to other post acute care providers, home health, Inpatient rehab facilities and LTACHs.
Today, CMS has released a link to what they are calling the Post-Acute Care Quality Reporting Program: Patient Health Questionnaire Cue Card. While there are no specific instructions related to the use of this cue card in the SNF setting, in the announcement today CMS indicated, “During patient mood interviews, help patients select how often they have symptoms by showing them the new PHQ-2 to 9 cue card.”
While this is not much, it does give us some insight into how CMS is expecting that this interview will take place and has at least offered an updated cue card to assist with it.. On a series of recent Open Door Forums, CMS indicated that we can expect a complete MDS 3.0 v1.18.11 data set by the end of 2022, a revised RAI Manual in early 2nd quarter of 2023 and training videos in May of 2023.
It is frustrating that this is taking so long since the CMS’ plan was to implement this new version of the MDS in 2021. It seems like they should have been ready with resources to get us up to speed as soon as they finalized the decision to move forward back in August.
Also on a recent open door forum, I asked when CMS was planning training and resource deployment related to the residual effects of the elimination of section G in the new MDS, i.e., quality measures, 5-star, staffing data and CAAs. Their response was that they did not know.
And so we wait. Let’s hope the new year brings a treasure trove of resources so we can get up to speed and be ready to hit the ground running on October 1st. Stay tuned!