Texas Minimum Data Set

What is Texas MDS?

The Minimum Data Set (MDS) is a standardized collection of demographic and clinical information that describes a person's overall condition. All licensed nursing facilities in Texas are required to submit MDS assessments for all residents admitted into their facility. The current version is MDS 3.0.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, designed the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI). The MDS 3.0 is one of three components of the RAI. The other two components are:

  • Care Area Assessment Process, which assists with systematic interpretations of the completed MDS 3.0.
  • RAI Utilization Guidelines, which provide guidance on when and how to use the RAI.

The RAI helps nursing facility staff gather information about the resident's strengths and needs to develop an individualized care plan. They also help to implement and evaluate the care plan. Resident data recorded on the MDS are used for federal Medicare and state Medicaid reimbursement systems. The MDS is used to monitor quality of care provided to nursing facility residents through a reports and survey process. State and federal nursing home rating/comparison systems use the MDS as part of their process. Although the RAI is the overarching tool, the RAI and data collection process is commonly referred to as "the MDS."

What are RAI and MDS?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), designed the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI), which consists of three components:

  1. Minimum Data Set (MDS)
  2. Resident Assessment Protocols (RAPs) in MDS 2.0 or Care Area Assessments (CAAs) in MDS 3.0
  3. Utilization Guidelines

The RAI helps nursing facility staff look at residents holistically, gather information about the resident's strengths and needs, develop an individualized plan of care, implement the care plan, and evaluate the care plan. Resident data recorded on the MDS are used for federal Medicare and state Medicaid reimbursement systems. The MDS is used to monitor quality of care provided to nursing facility residents through the Quality Monitoring and Quality Indicator reports and the survey process. State and federal nursing home rating/comparison systems use the MDS as part of their formula. Although the RAI is the overarching tool, the RAI and data collection process is commonly referred to as "the MDS."