MDS Alert

Question:  Can a facility code "8" for "activity did not occur" if the ADL flow sheets or other documentation have "holes" or omissions where staff didn't chart for a shift during the assessment window? Do you code "8-8" for eating if the resident is tube fed and receives no food or fluids by mouth?

Answer:  You'd only code an "8" if the ADL task NEVER occurred during the look-back period. The only time documentation might contradict that assertion is if it indicates the task did occur. In other words, holes in the flow sheets or nursing or other documentation would not contradict an "8" being coded, according to Marilyn Mines, a nursing consultant with Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt in Deerfield, IL. According to the Resident Assessment Instrument user's manual, even a resident who receives a tube feedings and no food or fluids by mouth is engaged in eating (receiving nourishment), so an "8-8" would not apply.