News for MDS Experts
Check out our insightful articles and current social feed of news that’s important to MDS Coordinators.
Our Latest Articles
From Orders to Action: Aligning Care Plans and Psychotropic Medications
Critical Element Pathways (CEPs) are tools in the Long-Term Care State Operations Manual (SOM) that are developed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and utilized by surveyors along with...
F641 in Plain English – How Interview Accuracy Protects Your CMI
When surveyors look at MDS accuracy, they’re not just checking boxes – they’re looking at whether the assessment truly reflects the resident. F641 holds the interdisciplinary team and nursing...
From Coding to Compliance: Avoiding Pitfalls in the 2026 MDS Landscape
With the numerous regulatory bodies that govern long term care (LTC) and skilled nursing facilities (SNF), it is easy to feel like there is no end to the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) and...
Spring Cleaning… but for Documentation 🌷
Spring is a good reminder that sometimes documentation needs a little cleanup too.
A few quick things facilities may want to review:
• Are care plans reflecting the resident’s current status?
• Does documentation support the coded MDS items?
• Are disciplines documenting consistently across the IDT?
• Are older notes still being copied forward when they shouldn’t be?
Just like spring cleaning at home, small updates can make a big difference.
Clear documentation helps the entire team —and tells the resident’s story the way it should.
#LongTermCare #MDS #SNFLeadership #DocumentationMatters #MDSCONSULTANTS #MDSEDUCATION ... See MoreSee Less
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🎉 We’re kicking off our 2026 Education Year with AAPACN!
MDS Consultants is proud to begin our 2026 education year as an AAPACN Training Partner, starting with the QAPI Certified Professional (QCP®) Workshop in April 2026.
This nationally recognized workshop is designed to help facilities move beyond compliance and strengthen meaningful QAPI programs that truly impact resident care.
📅 QCP® | April 14–17, 2026
🖥️ Virtual | Eastern Time
🎓 15 Continuing Education Credits
🔗 Register at cstu.io/5568d2
Follow us for additional AAPACN certification opportunities throughout 2026.
#AAPACN #AAPACNTrainingPartner #QCP #QAPI #MDSConsultants #SNFEducation #LongTermCare #NurseLeadership #Compliance #QualityImprovement ... See MoreSee Less
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Medication management continues to be a key compliance focus in skilled nursing facilities.
Monitoring high-risk medications, evaluating opportunities for gradual dose reductions, and strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration are all important steps in supporting resident safety and regulatory compliance.
If your team is reviewing medication monitoring practices, there are also practical tools and resources that can help support those efforts.
To explore this topic further, join the upcoming webinar:
Spring Clean Your Medication Systems: Reduce Risk with Team Alignment
📅 March 24
🎓 Designed for Administrators, Directors of Nursing, MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, and interdisciplinary team members.
Register here:
👉 cstu.io/f31295
#longtermcare
#skillednursing
#MedicationManagement
#MDS
#NursingLeadership
#InterdisciplinaryCare
#ltcleadership ... See MoreSee Less
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Medication management remains one of the most important compliance focus areas in skilled nursing facilities.
𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸’𝘀 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Compliance Edition, we highlight the importance of monitoring high-risk medications, evaluating gradual dose reductions, and strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration to support resident safety and regulatory compliance.
If your team is reviewing medication monitoring processes, there are also practical tools and resources that can help support those efforts.
To explore this topic further, join the upcoming webinar:
Spring Clean Your Medication Systems: Reduce Risk with Team Alignment
📅 March 24
🎓 Designed for Administrators, Directors of Nursing, MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, and interdisciplinary team members.
Register here:
👉 cstu.io/f31295
#LongTermCare #SkilledNursing #MedicationManagement #MDS #NursingLeadership #InterdisciplinaryCare #LTCLeadership ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: CMS is reportedly reviewing its policy on antipsychotic use in nursing homes.
According to recent reporting, federal regulators may be reassessing how antipsychotic medication use is evaluated in skilled nursing facilities, with the goal of better distinguishing between clinically appropriate prescribing and inappropriate use.
This conversation is not new to long-term care. Over the past decade, facilities have worked to reduce unnecessary antipsychotic use while still supporting residents who may require these medications as part of their individualized treatment plans.
As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, the importance of clear documentation, clinical justification, and interdisciplinary medication review remains critical.
For teams reviewing psychotropic medication use, structured tools can help support consistent evaluation and documentation. At MDS Consultants, we’ve developed a Schizophrenia and Antipsychotic Medication Review Tool designed to assist facilities in assessing medication use, supporting clinical decision-making, and reinforcing compliance practices.
Check our tools: cstu.io/b4d9db
Check out the article: cstu.io/a60976
#LongTermCare
#SkilledNursing
#Antipsychotics
#PsychotropicMedications
#HealthcareCompliance
#MDS
#LTCLeadership ... See MoreSee Less
BREAKING: CMS ‘reviewing’ its policy on antipsychotic use in nursing homes, report says
cstu.io
Federal regulators are reportedly reexamining a policy discouraging use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes unless patients have one of three specific conditions.0 CommentsComment on Facebook
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆
Sometimes compliance issues don’t come from what was coded…they come from what wasn’t documented.
The MDS is only as strong as the documentation behind it.
When surveyors review assessments, they aren’t just looking at the codes —they’re asking:
• Does the documentation support the MDS?
• Does the interdisciplinary team tell the same story?
• Would someone outside your facility understand the resident’s status?
A quick internal review can go a long way in protecting both accuracy and compliance.
Small checks today can prevent big survey questions tomorrow.
👉 cstu.io/407368
#MDS #SNFCompliance #LongTermCare #MDSConsultants ... See MoreSee Less
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We’re looking forward to being at AAPACN this year.
Across multiple states, we’re continuing to see facilities work through PDPM refinements, documentation alignment challenges, and reimbursement trends that warrant closer attention.
If you’re attending, stop by Booth 314 to:
• Pick up a complimentary PDPM Score Card
• Talk through a documentation or coding concern
• Compare approaches to PDPM strategy
📍 Booth 314
We look forward to connecting.
#AAPACN #PDPM #MDS #LongTermCare #SNFLeadership #MDSCONSULTANTS #MDSSUPPORT #MDSTRAININGANDEDUCATION ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Medication management continues to be a key compliance focus in skilled nursing facilities.
Monitoring high-risk medications, evaluating opportunities for gradual dose reductions, and strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration are all important steps in supporting resident safety and regulatory compliance.
If your team is reviewing medication monitoring practices, there are also practical tools and resources that can help support those efforts.
To explore this topic further, join the upcoming webinar:
Spring Clean Your Medication Systems: Reduce Risk with Team Alignment
📅 March 24
🎓 Designed for Administrators, Directors of Nursing, MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, and interdisciplinary team members.
Register here:
👉 cstu.io/f31295
#longtermcare
#skillednursing
#MedicationManagement
#MDS
#NursingLeadership
#InterdisciplinaryCare
#ltcleadership ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
We would like to celebrate all of the LTC Administrators this week for their dedication and leadership, delivery of resident-centered care, and providing a supportive work environment in the post-acute care settings.
cstu.io/3cef71 ... See MoreSee Less
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