MDS Alert

Hint: CMS wants to know that residents are safe and doing well.

Check your answers here. Rationales are provided for some answers requiring more in-depth information or explanation.

1. a. Short stay and long stay

Rationale: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) separated QMs into short- and long-stay categories in recognition that residents generally fall into either category. “While every nursing home resident has their own individual needs and goals, the overarching goal of the short-stay residents is typically aimed at improving their health status so they can return to their previous setting. Conversely, the main goal of long-stay residents is typically aimed at maintaining or attaining their highest practicable well-being while residing long term in the facility. To help consumers better understand the level of quality each nursing home provides to these two groups, we are creating separate short-stay and long-stay QM ratings,” said Karen Tritz, former acting director of the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at CMS, in the March 2019 memorandum QSO-19-08-NH.

1. c. 13
2. d. 23
3. d. Percent of Residents Who Made Improvements in Function

Rationale: “This measure reports the percentage of short-stay residents who were discharged from the nursing home that gained more independence in transfer, locomotion, and walking during their episodes of care,” CMS says in the Quality Measures User’s Manual V15.

1. c. Percent of Residents with a Urinary Tract Infection
2. a. Short
3. a. Changes in Skin Integrity Post-Acute Care: Pressure Ulcer/Injury
4. b. July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

Rationale: For QMs concerning influenza vaccination are only calculated once per 12-month influenza season “ … which begins on July 1 of a given year and ends on June 30 of the subsequent year, and reports data for residents who were in the facility for at least one day during the target period of October 1 through March 31,” CMS says in the Quality Measures User’s Manual V15.

Resource: Find the Quality Measures User’s Manual V15 in the Downloads Section here www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/NHQIQualityMeasures.