The MDS Expert Blog

Our quick, insightful summaries of the news that’s important to MDS Coordinators.

Our Latest MDS Expert Articles

What Is an MDS Coordinator?

It’s a bit odd that when asked what you do for a living most MDS coordinators struggle to come up with an answer. Who struggles to explain what they do every day? The reality is that MDS Coordinators fully understand what this multifaceted job entails, but are at a loss how to put it into words...

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MDS 2023 Countdown Wrap-Up

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer: Current as of May 13, 2023.   What You Can Expect to See CMS released the first MDS draft item set (v1.18.11) in September 2022, which generated many questions for the long-term care community. Both the final item sets and the...

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The MDS 2023 Countdown

October 1, 2023 will bring a new MDS for us all to manage. The MDS Consultants team has gone through the known changes in detail to share with you these section-by-section primers.

MDS 2023 Countdown Wrap-Up

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer: Current as of May 13, 2023.   What You Can Expect to See CMS released the first MDS draft item set (v1.18.11) in September 2022, which generated many questions for the long-term care community. Both...

Rx Reconciliation – New SNF QRP and QMs

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of May 13, 2023 What You Can Expect to See The reconciled medication list will have a new documentation requirement that will go into effect with the October 1, 2023 changes to the MDS 3.0. ...

Away with Q0300 and in with Q0310 – New Section Q Changes

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of May 13, 2023 What You Can Expect to See This new Section Q update presents a key change to the wording: GOAL vs expectation. The Cambridge American Dictionary defines expectation as "the...

Updated Entered From and Discharge Status options

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of April 8, 2023 Section A1800 "Entered From" and A2100 "Discharged Status" have Changed One of the changes you will see when coding section A of the MDS this October 1, 2023, is found with...

Transportation – New Item A1250

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of April 1, 2023 What You Can Expect to See An additional item we will see in the upcoming MDS 3.0 v.1.18.11 in October 2023 is A1250 - Transportation. This is included in a new subset of...

New 3-day Lookbacks | Assessment Periods

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of March 24, 2023 What You Can Expect to See New 3-day lookback/assessment periods are coming to the MDS world. There are different sections of the MDS that the Nurse Assessment Coordinators...

New Pain Interview in Section J

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of February 22, 2023 What You Can Expect to See The most noticeable changes to Section J are evident in the pain interview, specifically questions J0510, J0520 and J0530. The RAI Manual has...

Section B – Hearing, Speech and Vision Changes

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of February 15, 2023 What You Can Expect to See Section B on the MDS is a component of the Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements (SPADEs), which is utilized across post-acute care...

Race and Ethnicity – Changes in Section A

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of February 7, 2023 What You Can Expect to See Section A, Identification Information for Race/Ethnicity has expanded. One of the major changes is the deletion of section A1000 Race/Ethnicity....

The New Section N: Use and Indication of High-risk Drug Classes

This post is part of the MDS 2023 Countdown series.  Disclaimer. Current as of December 23, 2022 WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE We will see changes in Section N of the MDS 3.0 effective on October 1, 2023.  Section N0410 (Medications Received) has been eliminated and is...

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