Texas MDS Links & Resources | Texas Health and Human Services

MDS 3.0 Documents

Emergency MDS Protocol (PDF) – steps that should be taken by MDS Coordinators in preparation for the possibility of evacuations and emergency weather events.
Section GG and NPE Discharge Assessment FAQ (PDF) — A Frequently Asked Questions document concerning Section GG and NPE Discharge Assessment
Short Stay Double-Check (PDF) — A worksheet that you can use to confirm that a record qualifies as a short stay assessment (Z0100C=1) using efficient MDS item logic derived from the MDS 3.0 RAI Manual.
MDS 3.0 OBRA Assessment Scheduling Form (Adobe PDF | MS Word) — An optional form that providers can use to track past, pending, and upcoming OBRA-required MDS for a resident. [Updated 9/15/2011]
MDS 3.0 Look-Back Periods (PDF) — This is a reference table of look-back periods for all MDS 3.0 items.
Resource Utilization Group (RUG) III Version 5.2 Worksheet (34 Group Model) (PDF) —This RUG-III Version 5.2 calculation worksheet has been updated for the 34 Group Model currently used in Texas for nursing facility residents whose MDS 2.0 and MDS 3.0 indicates their stay is funded by Medicaid. This worksheet is a step-by-step walk through to manually determine the appropriate RUG-III classification based on the information from MDS 2.0 items. The conversion from MDS 3.0 to MDS 2.0 can be found on the CMS MDS 3.0 Technical Information website in the "RUG III Files" download.
CASPER Folder Quick Tips (PDF) — This QTSO memo describes the CASPER reports folders that are available to MDS providers.

MDS 3.0 Questions & Answers

The following questions and answers related to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Long-Term Care Resident Assessment Instrument User's Manual, Version 3.0, will be updated occasionally and will address Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 issues that are not directly answered by any CMS documents.

MDS 3.0 Requirements — Provider IDs, HIV/AIDS, Section S, RUGs, CMIs

Question: What are the Texas-specific requirements for MDS 3.0?
Answer: The Texas-specific requirements for MDS 3.0 can be found in Provider Letter #16-20 (PDF).

Section A — A0200 Type of Provider

Question: How does A0200 get corrected?
Answer: The QIES ASAP system (the CMS system that processes MDS) knows which providers are nursing facilities and which are swing bed facilities. If a nursing facility answers A0200 incorrectly, the submitted MDS will receive an error and be rejected. If that happens, correct A0200 in your software without using a Correction Form and resubmit the MDS.

To clarify the second paragraph of "Modification Requests" in the MDS 3.0 RAI Manual pages 5-10: You cannot modify A0100C, A0200 or A0410 in an MDS accepted into the QIES ASAP system no matter what (whether the accepted MDS is valid or invalid). An incorrect value in A0200 will cause a submitted MDS to be rejected, so it will never have to be modified. IF the MDS is invalid due to an incorrect A0100C or A0410 then a special manual correction request is required.

Section A — A0310 Type of Assessment

Question: When will the Type of Provider — PPS assessment — be an unscheduled assessment for PPS (A0310 B = 07)?
Answer:

Set A0310 B = 07 when the MDS is a start and/or end of therapy (A0310 C = 1, 2 or 3) and the MDS is not combined with a scheduled PPS assessment (A0310 B = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6).
Set A0310 B = 07 when the person is a Medicare resident as of the ARD of the MDS, the MDS is a significant change in status assessment or significant correction to prior comprehensive assessment (A0310 A = 4 or 5) and the MDS is not combined with a scheduled PPS assessment (A0310 B = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6).

Links

QIES Technical Support Office (QTSO) — CMSNET (Verizon) information for connecting to MDS submission website, MDS Personal Login ID Maintenance Forms for logging into MDS submission website, jRAVEN free MDS software, and MDS 3.0.

CMS MDS website — CMS MDS 3.0 information.

MDS Coordinator Information Forum — Hosted by allnurses.com, this a free online forum focused on MDS Coordinators. Visit the forum to read and post MDS-related questions and answers. Keep in mind, though, that your state MDS Automation and RAI coordinators are the final authority on technical and clinical MDS questions in Texas. It is free to register on allnurses.com so that you can post to the MDS Coordinator Information forum.

Nursing Home Compare — CMS site that compares nursing homes in a given area.

Nursing Home Help — This site, sponsored by the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, includes MDS-related materials "developed by the MU MDS and Quality Research Team, the Statewide Planning Committee for Improving MDS Assessment and Use, and the Quality Improvement Program for Missouri."

Long-term Care Provider Search — Formerly called the Quality Reporting System, this site allows people not only to find a facility or provider in their area, but also to learn more about the providers and facilities.

Texas Medicaid RUG Rates — The Health and Human Services Rate Analysis Department develops reimbursement methodology rules for determining payment rates or rate ceilings for recommendation to HHSC for Medicaid payment rates and non-Medicaid payment rates for programs operated by DADS and DFPS.

MDS 3.0 Section Q referral process — information about changes to relocation and referral processes in Texas driven by the MDS 3.0 item Q0500.