On Sept. 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the draft MDS Nursing Home Comprehensive (NC) Item Set version 1.18.11 Nursing homes will be required to implement the v1.18.11 item sets—with their many changes—beginning Oct. 1, 2023.
Some significant changes include:
- Section G (Functional Status) will no longer exist! Some Section G items have been updated and incorporated into Section GG including two former Section G items, Functional Limitation in Range of Motion and Mobility devices. Assessment windows for some item sets will be adjusted.
- Section GG takes central stage and becomes critical to OBRA assessments and Interim Payment Assessments (IPAs). Those facilities who have relied heavily on therapy to assess and code Section GG are now behind those like Premier Therapy’s partners who have embraced the collaborative effort in coding usual performance and have focused on nursing training on coding of Section GG elements.
- Items that will accommodate the Transfer of Health Information QRP quality measures have been added.
- Items that will accommodate an additional five categories of Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements (SPADEs) have been added.
- PHQ-9 was changed to PHQ-2 to 9, which could shorten the interview to two questions in some cases.
We will look for the release of the updated RAI manual for further information regarding the changes.
Premier Therapy and our partnering facilities have been training for this since 2017. We are ready for what’s to come. Are you?
