Eli's Hospice Insider

Point out SCSA change in RAI Manual update.

The Skilled Nursing Facilities your patients reside in have a new rule in the October 2015 RAI Manual update.

In the updated RAI Manual and MDS 3.0 Item Sets v1.13.2, which are effective Oct. 1, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services revised the language in the requirement for performing a Significant Change in Status Assessment (SCSA). The RAI Manual Chapter 2 (page 2-21) now states: “A SCSA is required to be performed when a terminally ill resident enrolls in a hospice program (Medicare-certified or State-licensed hospice provider) or changes hospice providers and remains a resident at the nursing home.”

Meaning: “CMS is defining a hospice program as a Medicare-certified or State-licensed hospice provider,” noted Cheryl Shiffer, RAI Coordinator for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, in a recent training session. So your nursing home partners don’t only do an SCSA when a resident enrolls into a Medicare-certified or State-licensed hospice, but they would also do a SCSA if the resident decided to change their hospice providers during their hospice stay and they remain a resident at the nursing home.

Note: The updated RAI Manual is at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/MDS30RAIManual.html. Scroll down to the “Downloads” section at the bottom of the page to find links to the October 2015 RAI Manual.