Wondering how to correct your OASIS coding when necessary? The Interpretive Guide-lines at 42 CFR 484.48 state that home health agencies may create policies for OASIS correction. Any corrections made must have the clinician's agreement, but the guidelines also state that the policy should be flexible for supervisors to be able to make a change without the clinician's approval in case of staff turnover. See
www.cms.gov/manuals/Downloads/som107ap_b_hha.pdf for more. CMS's OASIS Q&As at
www.qtso.com/hha download.html say the assessing clinician must determine the primary and secondary diagnoses and their severity. Another Q&A states that the coders cannot change the coding, even for technical errors, unless the clinician agrees. There are exceptions in the absence of the clinician, but certain criteria must be met. Those criteria can also be found in the OASIS Q&A's dated October 2011.