Industry Note:
Help SNFs Code Hospice On MDS With These Tips
Published on Wed Nov 02, 2011
If you're a hospice provider serving nursing home patients, you can help those facilities fill out their MDS assessments correctly. Tip: For item A1800 (Entered From), facilities should select Code 07, Hospice "if the resident was admitted from a program for terminally ill persons where an array of services is necessary for the palliation and management of terminal illness and related conditions," states CMS's RAI User's Manual. The hospice must be state-licensed or Med-icare-certified. The response includes community-based or inpatient hospice programs. Plus: If an individual is enrolled in a home-based hospice program enter 07, Hospice, instead of 01, Community, for MDS item A2100 (Discharge Status), the Manual instructs. Again, state license or Medicare certification requirements apply. Remember: Nursing homes must complete a significant change MDS when a patient elects hospice, even if they completed another MDS assessment recently.