OASIS Alert

Question: Many times lately when I try to go to an OASIS link on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's Web site, I'm told it doesn't work and that the Web site has been redesigned. Where can I find all the information I used to have links for?

Answer: You're not the only one having problems with the redesigned site. Although everything you ever wanted to know about the prescription drug benefit is available on the new CMS site, not all of the OASIS material home health agencies are used to finding is there yet.

The home health page is at www.cms.hhs.gov/center/hha.asp. Some OASIS material is at www.cms.hhs.gov/OASIS/01_Overview.asp. But at press time, not all the OASIS links were live.

Before launching the new Web site, CMS said "users who enter URLs from the old website will be automatically redirected to the new web pages." However, that is true only for some URLs.

In the Jan. 18 Home Health Open Door Forum, Heather Vasek from the Texas Association for Home Care voiced her concerns about missing material, as did others among the 370 participants. CMS staff are working hard to try to get links back on the new system as fast as possible, agency official Mary Weakland told forum listeners.

Try this: The search function on the new CMS site sometimes helps you locate a lost link. Some documents in pdf format are accessible using old URLs, though it's still a matter of trial and error. Many OASIS downloads are at www.qtso.com/hhadownload.html  scroll down to OASIS and try the links.

You can find Medlearn matters articles by going to http://new.cms.hhs.gov/ MedlearnMattersArticles.