In the News

By Caralyn Davis, Staff Writer | March 2, 2021 | Full article available to Members at AAPACN "CMS has been concerned about medication-related adverse events for many years. Identifying potential and actual clinically significant medication issues, communicating those issues to the physician, and then implementing physician-prescribed or physician-recommended interventions in a timely manner-at admission and throughout the Medicare Part A resident's stay-are critical components of ensuring both...

By Caralyn Davis, Staff Writer | July 07, 2020 | Full article available to Members at AAPACN   The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) makes clear in the title of MDS section GG (Usual Performance and Goals) that the assessment subitems in items GG0130 (Self-Care) and GG0170 (Mobility) are designed to capture a resident’s usual ability or usual performance. This begs the question: How can nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) and other members of the interdisciplinary team...

Julie Williamson | Sept 1, 2014 | Excerpted from: McKnights While this autumn won't bring nearly as many MDS changes as last year, documentation and coding due-diligence remains crucial. And despite coordinators' knowledge and leadership role in the MDS process, they shouldn't be shouldering the responsibility alone, experts say. “Any discipline that contributes to the MDS should understand the ‘tell me more' about the MDS information they are contributing,” says Kelton Swartz, MDS Strategist...