A few weeks ago the Michigan Supreme Court ruled on an issue of first impression for the court: is the limitations period for a malpractice claim tolled when the Notice of Intent (“NOI”) is filed on the last day of the limitations period? The Court held that the limitations period was tolled and provided plaintiff with an additional day to file the lawsuit.

The IMPACT Act requires that CMS implement cross-setting quality measures. These items assess the need for assistance with self-care and mobility activities. You don't need to know the coding process, but you should share this type of information with your MDS team so that they are compliant with the new regulations for section GG under the IMPACT act.

The SNF QRP will begin collecting data from MDS assessments (and section GG) on October 1, 2016. The good news is that Section GG only applies to residents admitted to a skilled stay in your community! It must be completed at the time of admission and at the time of discharge. If you're combining an Admission assessment with a 5-day assessment, complete both Sections G and GG. The look-back period for this assessment is days 1-3, starting with the start of the most recent medicare stay.  

The IMPACT Act was a bipartisan bill that was passed in September of 2014 and signed into law in October by President Obama. The act requires standardized resident assessment data that will be uniform.

The goal is to:

• Promote quality care and improved outcomes
• Compare data across post-acute care
• Improve discharge planning
• Enable the exchangeability or interoperability of information and data
• Facilitate coordinated care

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) electronically submit direct care staffing information based on payroll and other auditable data. CMS began collecting data from nursing homes on a voluntary basis on October 1, 2015, and nationwide mandatory reporting began on July 1, 2016.

By the time they arrive at your community, the survey team has already chosen the first phase resident sample. It isn’t magic—they have the same tools our communities have: a current CASPER report and the two federal forms: the 672 and the 802.

So why don’t we use them ourselves? Wouldn’t it be great to have your own “resident sample” that mirrors the surveyors'? You should also be using these tools as part of your QAPI and PIP process to improve QMs and health inspection reports!

Have you ever had an adverse event happen in your community where you identified that a deficient practice may have contributed to, or failed to prevent, the incident? This may surprise you, but CMS understands that this can happen and they're willing to give you an opportunity to avoid citations! Shocking but true, back in October 2005 a memo was published by CMS outlining the History of Past Non-Compliance (HPNC) process (www.cms.gov).