OASIS Alert

Don't miss this free medication item training opportunity.

You don't want to miss the critical OASIS information the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offered in the May 25 Open Door Forum.

OASIS training. CMS is offering new online training on OASIS items pertaining to medications. Check out the free online training module on OASIS items M2000 through M2040 online at http://surveyortraining.cms.hhs.gov/pubs/ProviderTraining.aspx -- click on "Provider Tools."

This module is just the first in a series of OASIS training sessions, said CMS's Pat Sevast in the forum. CMS plans to post several more modules this year, and more next year as well.

Tip: If you have questions after the training, the module directs you to a special mailbox -- cmssurveyortraining@cms.hhs.gov.

Goodbye to M1012. CMS is waiting on Office of Management and Budget approval to scrap M1012 (Inpatient Procedure) from the OASIS-C assessment tool altogether. Look for the change to take place in October 2013, when the tool is updated for the transition to ICD-10.

Until then, "you must still answer M1012," CMS's Robin Dowell instructed. But it doesn't matter which M1012 answer you select, because it doesn't count toward payment, risk adjustment, or quality measure calculations, she added.

Verizon transition. CMS's switch from AT&T to Verizon as its OASIS submission vendor has been pushed back, reported CMS's Kim Jasmin in the forum. The transition is slated to occur in August instead of the originally scheduled June.