MDS Alert

Here's how to take a proactive approach.

The MDS 3.0 may seem like something you can't do anything about -- or with -- at this point. But you can get involved with the instrument in these two ways.

1. Pass along your feedback about the instrument. Clinicians and nursing facilities should study the draft and provide comments to their associations, including the American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, advises Carol Job, RN, board chair for AANAC and a consultant with Myers & Stauffer in Topeka, KS. "CMS really reads comments from the clinicians."

2. Capitalize on the value of the standardized assessments. Facilities could potentially use some of the draft MDS 3.0 sections now to augment their clinical assessments. "The facility wouldn't try to integrate any of the 3.0 items in what they are doing with the MDS 2.0," emphasizes Rena Shephard, RN, MHA, FACDONA, president of RRS Healthcare Consulting in San Diego. "But in terms of being able to do better assessment of some issues, some of the assessments in the draft 3.0 can be very valuable," she points out.

Tap this valuable info: The draft instrument also includes valuable instructions on how to conduct a successful resident interview.