News for MDS Experts

𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀? 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲.

With updated guidance and the upcoming changes to quality measures, facilities are being looked at more closely than ever when it comes to psychoactive medication management.

Join us for Part 2 as we break this down in a way that actually makes sense—and gives you something you can take back to your team.
🗓️𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟭
𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮)

𝗪𝗲’𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻:
✔ Utilize behavioral assessments to direct person-centered care planning
✔ Identify non-pharmacological interventions as alternatives to psychoactive medication use
✔ Discuss the psychoactive medications and their impact on quality measures
✔ Delve into the importance of integrating IDT psychoactive medication management through QAPI process

This isn’t just about compliance—it’s about doing it right and avoiding survey issues before they happen.
👉 Don’t see the register button? cstu.io/b41d4a

#LongTermCare #SNF #MDS #HealthcareCompliance #QAPI #NurseLeadership #SurveyReady #PsychotropicMedications ... See MoreSee Less

We are headed to Orlando, Florida this week to present three speaking sessions at ACHCA 2026 Annual Convention and Expo April 20-23. Join our sessions as we discuss: The Top 10 Citations, and How to Prevent; RAI System Essentials and the Roadmap to SNF Quality; Compliance and Medication Management using Team-Based Compliance.
www.achca.org/convention/?utm_source=contentstudio.io&utm_medium=referral ... See MoreSee Less

CMS is pleased to announce some recently released enhancements to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Resident-Level Quality Measure report. Since January 2026 releases, the iQIES and Quality Reporting Program (QRP) help desks have received several inquiries on the new hybrid measure results particularly regarding residents who trigger the measure because of only claims data as opposed to not being indicated in the MDS assessment.
𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.
In addition to viewing whether the measure was triggered or not triggered, three additional data fields have been added to the report, along with referencing footnotes to explain the data. The three new fields are:
Trigger Source b
Reflects the data source that caused the measure to be triggered: 1 = MDS, 2 = Claims, 3 = Both
Exclusion Reason c
Reflects the reason the resident was excluded from the measure: 1 = Enrollment-based exclusion, 2 = Schizophrenia, Tourette's, or Huntington's on MDS and Claims, 3 = At least one Medicare Part A/Medicaid record for hospice services during nursing home stay and overlapping with target period, 9 = Other
Inclusion Reason d
Reflects the reason the resident was included in the measure: 1 = Meets continuous enrollment requirement with no excluded diagnoses indicated, 2 = Resident has excluded diagnoses on MDS, but no matching claims for that diagnosis, 9 = Other

For questions about this information, please contact our QIES/iQIES Service Center by phone: (800) 339-9313 or by email at iQIES@cms.hhs.gov. ... See MoreSee Less

Updates posted on 4/2/2026 to Nursing Homes Post-Launch Providers, Intakes, and Enforcement FAQ, Nursing Homes Post-Launch Survey-Questions and Answers, and Nursing Home Surveys Office Hours-Questions and Answers.
cstu.io/b76fb8
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cstu.io/6ab857 ... See MoreSee Less

CMS is releasing the following guidance in Chapter 5 of the SOM: • Revisions to Immediate Jeopardy Priority Definition examples for Nursing Homes; and • Clarification of Off-site investigations.
CMS has updated and revised guidance in Chapter 7 of the SOM that includes: • Survey Team Composition, Survey Procedures, Plans of Correction, Verifying Corrections, Survey Revisit and Offsite Revisit Paper Review, Off-hours Survey, Enforcement, Nurse Staffing Waivers, Disposition of Civil Money Penalties (CMP), Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Reduction Act, Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR), and Independent Informal Dispute Resolution (IIDR); • Additionally, guidance previously found in Appendix P of the State Operations Manual has been added to Chapter 7; and • Technical changes that include updates for accurate references.
cstu.io/52475f ... See MoreSee Less

The March update of Appendix B to the MDS 3.0 RAI User’s Manual contains changes to the list of State RAI Coordinators, MDS Automation Coordinators, and CMS locations and contacts. To ensure accurate formatting, use a current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF. Web-based or mobile browser plug-ins may affect how the file is displayed.
cstu.io/220e6b
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cstu.io/6899d0 ... See MoreSee Less

Kristine Martinez BSN, RN, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA, QCP, DNS-CT and Lavatus Donaldson LPN, BPS-HIM, RAC-CT, MBA, QCP discuss successful strategies for regulatory compliance and key takeaways for nurse leaders in their article, From Coding to Compliance Avoiding Pitfalls in the 2026 MDS Landscape, featured in AAPACN.
www.aapacn.org/
cstu.io/06e624 ... See MoreSee Less