News for MDS Experts
Check out our insightful articles and current social feed of news that’s important to MDS Coordinators.
Our Latest Articles
Care Planning to Reduce the Risk for Chemical Restraint
How can we turn care plans from an exercise in paper compliance that few staff understand, let alone review or utilize, to a workable document that helps us manage resident needs? When thinking...
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...
The iQIES S&C Immediate Jeopardy for LTC Job Aid was released 4/21/2026. This Job Aid shows how to document surveys identified as having IJ. Navigating to the IJ section is considered prerequisite knowledge for beginning citation work. Refer to the Manage a Survey: Long Term Care Facilities for detailed citation steps, if needed.
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Skilled Nursing Facility Data Validation Process: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) has been updated for April 2026. Check out the updates.
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Our team is on-site at SCHCA in Myrtle Beach this week.
We hope you had the opportunity to catch Jessica Stucin and Kristine Martinez presenting:
𝗚𝗚 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
This session focused on practical strategies to strengthen interdisciplinary processes, improve documentation accuracy, and support regulatory compliance.
If you missed it, we hope you had a chance to stop by Booth #502 to say hello and pick up a complimentary Functional Abilities GG Tool.
Always great connecting with everyone in person.
Feel free to reach out for more education and training opportunities: cstu.io/f0b236
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The Five-Star rating preview reports for nursing homes will be available in iQIES on April 22, 2026. Nursing Home Care Compare will update with the April Five-Star data on or around April 29, 2026.
Important Note: The Five-Star Helpline (800-839-9290) will be available April 27-May 1, 2026. For assistance logging into iQIES, please contact the iQIES Service Center via email (iQIES@cms.hhs.gov) or by phone (800-339-9313).
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𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟮 | 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳
𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗲’𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿:
• Types of QMs (MDS 3.0 / SNF QRP / SNF VBP)
• How QMs connect to care planning, survey, Care Compare/Five Star, and reimbursement
• A preview of the full 6-part QM series
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱: Administrators, DONs, NACs/MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, and IDT members.
Register to receive your personal login link: cstu.io/f4adc5
Drop a 🔥 in the comments if you’re joining us live. We’ll see you there.
#MDSConsultantsQMSeries #QualityMeasures #SkilledNursing #MDS30 #FiveStar #SurveyReadiness #PDPM ... See MoreSee Less
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a Web-Based Training that provides the latest information about the respecification of the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) Quality Measure (QM) for the Post-Acute Care (PAC) Settings. The training provides an overview of the legacy and respecified FMI Measure, discusses how the respecified measure includes both assessment and claims/encounter data in the respecified measure specifications. It also reviews key changes in PAC data collection guidance related to falls and injuries.
To access the training, click on the following link: cstu.io/be8760 ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 🎪 Join our speaking session at SCHCA's 2026 Annual Meeting and Trade Show on 4/27/2026 and come by our booth on 4/28/2026. We are looking forward to networking with everyone. www.schca.org/events/calendar/?utm_source=contentstudio.io&utm_medium=referral&ill_calendar_event... ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy Friday to our long-term care teams—thank you for everything you do. Hope you get a chance to reset this weekend.
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ACHCA 2026 — we’re here! 👋
If you missed our educators today, you can still catch them tomorrow.
👉 cstu.io/8e7c7d
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