Home Health & Hospice Week

'Final final' version expected in late summer, CMS says. After some initial scrambling, the feds have issued the nearly final version of the expanded new OASIS form that you'll start using next January. The "tentative final data set/instrument" and a host of supporting documents -- including a 61-page crosswalk from the current OASIS B to the new OASIS C form and a 74-page response to public comments on the new form--are on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services'Web site. And home health agencies can expect more new and revised OASIS materials ahead, said CMS's Deborah Terkay, speaking at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice's March on Washington meeting March 23. CMS plans to revamp Chapter 8 of the OASIS User's Manual, Terkay said in the meeting's home health panel on regulatory issues. In fact, the entire OASIS manual is slated for an overhaul. The new manual will be [...]