Resources

April 2024 Revisions 

Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System: Technical Users’ Guide

Effective with the April 2024 refresh, CMS will freeze four of the Quality Measures (QMs) used in the Five-Star Quality Rating System. Select the link to find out what four QMs will be impacted by recent changes to the Minimum Data Set (MDS). 

Skilled Nursing Facility Place of Service Codes: Updated Resources

CMS updated Medicare Learning Network resources to clarify the place of service codes you should use for inpatient services outside of a facility: 

• Skilled Nursing Facility Billing Reference

• Medicare Payment Systems: Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System

• Skilled Nursing Facility 3-Day Rule Billing

UPDATE: New Resource Available for Achieving a Full Annual Payment 

To help educate providers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hosted a webinar on achieving a full Annual Payment Update (APU) in the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP). The webinar covered updates to the SNF QRP, Minimum Data Set (MDS) and National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) submission and reporting requirements, available Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) and NHSN reports, the reconsideration process for providers who are identified as being non-compliant, and helpful resources.

If you were unable to attend the webinar, a recording is available on the CMS YouTube channel as well as the slide deck for the presentation. 

(A Post-Event Q&A document with responses to questions asked throughout the webinar should be available at a later date.)

Updated Manual - May 2024

The iQIES User Manual 5.1.2024 user manual provides information for CMS, Providers, Vendors, Accrediting Organizations, Contractors, and State Agencies to effectively perform Reports functions and the processes necessary to request, view, download, and save reports in iQIES.

New Video Resource: 

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Explainer

A new video on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Items: Using Sources Other Than the Resident to Code for SNF providers has been created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offering a 4-minute, animated explainer video intended to assist providers in accurately determining when the use of other sources is allowed for SDOH items: A1005 Ethnicity, A1010 Race, A1110 Language, A1250 Transportation, B1300 Health Literacy, and D0700 Social Isolation. The video is available on the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Training and through the SNF SDOH Explainer Video. 

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP)  Quick Reference Guide

In this resource, you will find answers to frequently asked questions on topics of data submission, influenza, swing beds, and SNF QRP. The guide also provides links for helpdesk assistance, as well as other helpful links. 

Ever Wonder Which is the Correct SNF ABN 10055 form to be used? 

On the CMS website, you can download and use either form. The 2018 version can be printed in Word and presented. The fillable one (September 2020) is also acceptable.

• SKILLED NURSING FACILITY ADVANCE BENEFICIARY NOTICE OF NON-COVERAGE (SNFABN) (September 2020)

• FFS SNF ABN 

State Section S Items Effective October 1, 2024

The tables list the Section S items that will be active on MDS 3.0 records with a target date on or after October 1, 2024. There are new Section S items being added for 2024. Please read the MDS 3.0 Data Specifications and any information provided by the state collecting the items for information on the changes.