Home Health & Hospice Week

New Q&As highlight one exemption.

Clinicians completing OASIS have had their hands full with OASIS-C2 changes that took effect Jan. 1, but you should make sure they’re filling in a straightforward but troublesome new item — the patient’s weight.

Home health agencies viewing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ November training on OASIS-C2 asked multiple questions about M1060 Height and Weight, and CMS’s responses stress how important it is for home health clinicians to be weighing patients themselves.

Question #1: “If a patient does not have a scale and we do not have a weight from the discharging facility, is it better that we estimate the weight or should we enter a dash?” asked one agency.

Answer #1: “The guidance for obtaining the weight indicates that the clinician must obtain the weight directly, following agency policies/procedures (not utilizing data from the referral source),” CMS responds.

Question #2: “Must we weigh the patient on SOC, or can the information be obtained from the MD or hospital?” an agency asked in another Q&A.

Answer #2: “At SOC, the patient should be weighed,” CMS stresses. “M1060b should not be obtained from the MD or hospital records.”

There are times when entering a dash for M1060b is legit, CMS admits. But you should only use the option when absolutely necessary.

Question #3: “M1060b says you can record the most recent weight in the last 30 days. If my agency weighs the patient at SOC, then the patient is transferred and care resumed, on the ROC can the agency use the same weight from the SOC if taken within 30 days?” a provider asked.

Answer #3: “As per the OASIS-C2 Guidance Manual, Chapter 3: C-26, Steps for Assessment for M1060b, Weight, Item 3, ‘If a patient cannot be weighed, for example, because of extreme pain, immobility, or risk of pathological fractures, enter a dash value (–) and document the rationale on the patient’s medical record.’ At ROC, an attempt to weigh the patient should be made. If this is not possible and the previous agency-obtained weight in M1060b is within the 30-day window, the weight can be used at ROC,” CMS allows.

Note: See the 19-page list of 76 Q&As at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/HomeHealthQualityInits/Downloads/November-2016_HH_QRP_Training_QAs.pdf.