MDS Alert

Should a Facility Code Pain Education as a Non-pharmacological Pain Remedy at J0100C?

Answer: "The RAI manual does not include education as a non-pharmacological remedy for Section J," says Sherri Robbins, RN, supervising consultant for BKD LLC in Springfield, Mo. Thus "my answer would be no." Education about pain "may be a part of the skilled nursing care provided to the patient during a Medicare Part A covered stay and would certainly need to be addressed in the care plan."

Marty Pachciarz, RN, RAC-CT, says she "leans toward not coding" education at J0100C, because it's not identified by the RAI manual as a scheduled and implemented intervention. "The result of the education, hopefully, includes treatment options which are nonpharmacological pain management and then that could be coded," adds Pachciarz, director of clinical services for the Polaris Group in Tampa, Fla.

Jennifer Pettis, RN, WCC, RAC-MT, and Elisa Bovee, MS, OTR/L, say they don't believe education really meets the definition of non-pharmacological interventions for coding J0100C. "But approaches such as teaching relaxation, guided imagery, breathing techniques, distraction etc., can be coded as such in J0100," says Bovee. (Pettis and Bovee are consultants with Harmony Healthcare International in Topsfield, Mass.)