News for MDS Experts
Check out our insightful articles and current social feed of news that’s important to MDS Coordinators.
Our Latest Articles
How the MDS is Utilized During the Survey Process
Have you ever wondered how the survey team determines which residents they will focus on during a standard survey in the skilled nursing facility/long term care facility (SNF/LTC)? The answers...
Fall MDS Updates are Here!
October 1 is typically when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) institutes changes to the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) and Minimum Data Set (MDS) – and this year is no...
Medicaid PDPM Is Coming: What Skilled Nursing Facilities Need to Know
Beginning October 1, 2025, many nursing homes will adopt a new reimbursement model for Medicaid residents: the Patient-Driven Payment Model, or Medicaid PDPM. While PDPM has been in place for...
𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁?
📌 Post–Oct 1 PDPM mapping shifts are tripping up primaries and triggering RTP messages.
𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆?
Comment “𝗜𝗖𝗗𝟭𝟬” for details.
#MDS #PDPM #ICD10 #SkilledNursing #RAI #LongTermCare ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲! 🍂
Inside this month’s issue MDS Update: How surveyors use your MDS to pick residents during a standard survey.
• Oct 14: Top 10 Deficiencies & Tips to Mitigate
• Oct 28: Ghost Stories: The Haunting Tales of MDS Miscoding
• Nov 11: Upcoming SNF Validation Audits: What to Expect
• Dec 19: Looking to 2026 — What’s on the Horizon?
𝗖𝗠𝗦 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀:
• QSO shutdown memo — what continues vs. pauses
• Errata v3.10.3 (new edits -4097/-4098) go live Oct 1
• Updated RAI Manual v1.20.1 (J1900 revision)
👉 Read & subscribe: www.mds-consultants.com/training/
Can’t attend live? All webinars are recorded for on-demand viewing.
#MDS #RAI #PDPM #SkilledNursing #SurveyReadiness #LongTermCare #NursingHomes ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗢𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟰 | 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟭𝟬 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲
CMS is pushing to reduce survey backlogs and return to “normal”, but infection control, accidents, quality of care, and care planning still dominate citations.
𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:
• The current Top 10 survey deficiencies
• Likely causes behind each
• Practical prevention strategies you can use now
Who should attend: Administrators, DON/DNS, NACs/MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, IDT members.
Trainers: Linda Winston, RN, MSN, BS, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA & Barb Bates, RN, MSN, BS, DNS-MT, QCP-MT.
Don’t see the Register button? Join MDS Experts to access all webinars.
🔗 Learn more: cstu.io/8800d9
#LongTermCare #Survey #QAPI #MDS #NursingHome #Compliance #Education ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀
𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀:
-Truly urgent complaints that could harm residents (IJ /harm)
-Some state/Medicaid and hospice survey work,
-Certain lab (CLIA) activities
-Finishing allowed entries in ASPEN/iQIES.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲:
-Routine Medicare recert surveys
-Most revisits
-New Medicare certifications
-Non-urgent complaints
-Most MDS/OASIS tasks
-IDR/IIDR (unless urgent)
-New CMP-funded projects.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘄:
-Keep complaint intake open and escalate immediate danger
-Keep allowed reporting going
-Check with State Medicaid
-Document decisions to keep residents safe.
Source: CMS memo QSO-26-01 (Oct 1, 2025). cstu.io/1f8329
#NursingHomes #SkilledNursing #CMS #Compliance #ResidentSafety #SurveyReadiness ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy Friday! 💛
Big shout-out to our incredible care teams; MDS coordinators, nurses, therapy, social services, activities, and everyone keeping residents at the center.
Take a breath, celebrate the small wins, and recharge this weekend.
PS: Our next webinar is Tuesday, October 14—join us!
Register here: 👉https://https://cstu.io/02efe7
What’s one thing you’re proud of from this week?
#HappyFriday #LongTermCare #SkilledNursing #SeniorCare #CareTeam #ThankYou #MDS #RAI #PDPM #NursingHomes ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗢𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟰 | 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟭𝟬 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲
CMS is pushing to reduce survey backlogs and return to “normal”, but infection control, accidents, quality of care, and care planning still dominate citations.
𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:
• The current Top 10 survey deficiencies
• Likely causes behind each
• Practical prevention strategies you can use now
Who should attend: Administrators, DON/DNS, NACs/MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, IDT members.
Trainers: Linda Winston, RN, MSN, BS, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA & Barb Bates, RN, MSN, BS, DNS-MT, QCP-MT.
Don’t see the Register button? Join MDS Experts to access all webinars.
🔗 Learn more: cstu.io/8800d9
#LongTermCare #Survey #QAPI #MDS #NursingHome #Compliance #Education ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy Friday, have a great weekend! 🎉
#PDPM #Medicaid #MDS #skillednursing #longtermcare #friday ... See MoreSee Less
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🚨 Do you know what reports to view in iQIES for your facility? The CMS iQIES Reports User Manual V2.10 was posted 9/26/2025. SNF's can utilize the MDS 3.0 Reports, PBJ Reports, and S&C Reports.
cstu.io/ea214c
Located under iQIES Reports Training Materials
cstu.io/653bcb ... See MoreSee Less
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Errata V3.10.3 is now available for the MDS Data Specifications V3.10.2 (FINAL) under the Downloads section at the bottom of this webpage. Three issues have been identified, two of which will result in the addition of edits -4097 and -4098 to replace deleted edits -3852 and -3994, respectively. The other issue corrects a typo in the allowed values for a Section S item. These revisions will go into production on October 1, 2025.
cstu.io/571cb4
cstu.io/e69317 ... See MoreSee Less
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