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...
🚨The Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Quality Measures (QM) User's Manual v18.0 and accompanying Risk Adjustment Appendix File are now available. The MDS 3.0 QM User’s Manual V18.0 will be effective beginning January 1, 2026, and contains detailed specifications for the MDS 3.0 QMs. A Notable Changes section in the document summarizes the major changes from the MDS 3.0 QM User’s Manual V17.0. The Risk Adjustment Appendix File is a reference to be used in conjunction with the MDS 3.0 Quality Measures User’s Manual v18.0 and contains coefficient values used to calculate the risk-adjusted quality measures. The latest coefficient values in this appendix file reflect, where applicable, updates to the measure specifications for the risk-adjusted NHQI measures, effective January 1, 2026.
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On November 12, 2025, Congress enacted Public Law 119-37, providing for a continuing appropriation until January 30, 2026, with retroactive authority back to October 1, 2025. Attached are responses to questions we received from States and providers with regard to the manner in which survey, enforcement & certification activities should accommodate the effects of the federal government shutdown that occurred from October 1, 2025, through November 12, 2025. cstu.io/7138cc ... See MoreSee Less
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📢Register for SOPS Nursing Home Survey Version 2.0: Updates, Insights, and Implementation
This one-hour webcast will introduce Version 2.0 of the Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®) Nursing Home Survey, highlighting key improvements and results from a pilot test with 27 nursing homes. Key improvements include a shortened and more focused survey. Speakers from AMI Expeditionary Healthcare will describe their first-hand experience using the new survey in a field test. They will discuss how they achieved greater than 50 percent response rates in eight nursing homes in Pennsylvania and how they are reviewing the results and preparing action plans for the participating nursing homes. cma.ahrq.gov/cma/registration.jsp;jsessionid=emLVvsd8d2ulTuipWVm4BxogOQn4spOIhSG96QQY7uLCk8ILR_CD... ... See MoreSee Less
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the official Technical Specification Report for the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) measure. This report incorporates feedback received during the cross-setting Technical Expert Panel (TEP) held on May 12 and 14, 2025. The report provides an overview of the measure, a high-level summary of the key features of the re-specified measure, a description of the methodology used to construct the FMI measure, and an overview of measure testing results. Additional guidance and related updates to the Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual and public reporting timelines will be provided at a future date. cstu.io/0e0157
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Friday is a great day to ask:
Are our nursing home Quality Measures telling the story we want?
One small improvement in documentation or coding this week can move the needle on quality next week.
#nursinghomequality #QualityMeasures #longtermcare #friday ... See MoreSee Less
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Grateful today—and every day—for the nursing home teams who show up with skill, heart, and resilience. 🧡
To the MDS coordinators, nurses, CNAs, administrators, therapists, and everyone behind the scenes: the work you do doesn’t just complete tasks, it changes lives.
From all of us at MDS Consultants, Happy Thanksgiving. 🦃
#Thanksgiving #NursingHomeQuality #LongTermCare #Gratitude #MDSConsultants ... See MoreSee Less
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𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻?
Dec 9 | 11:00 a.m. ET
OIG work plans, MDS + QMs, top CMS deficiencies, and how to plan without burning out your team.
Our educators will walk through what’s coming and how to get ready.
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱: Administrators, DONs, NACs/MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, IDT.
👉 Don’t see a Register button? This session is for MDS Experts members. Join MDS Experts to get access to all webinars.
cstu.io/8198d5
#LongTermCare #SNF #MDS #RAI #QMs #OIG #Compliance #Leadership #QAPI ... See MoreSee Less
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Quality Measures don’t just live on a dashboard — they drive Five-Star ratings, survey focus, and reputation.
In this week’s Tuesday Tip, we show how better data leads to better ratings and better outcomes.
𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮. 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀.
👉 cstu.io/10d5f8
#NursingHomeLeadership #QualityMeasures #MDS #LongTermCare #MDSConsultants ... See MoreSee Less
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What’s the biggest challenge your facility faces with MDS processes?
Share your thoughts below — let’s start the conversation.
✨ Partner with MDS Consultants to turn those challenges into opportunities for compliance, accuracy, and better resident care. ✨
#HealthcareCompliance #NursingHomes #MDSConsultants #ResidentCare ... See MoreSee Less
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