The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released that it has posted a new draft version of the 2020 MDS item sets (v1.18.0), which took many by surprise and caught observers off-guard as they considered it “early” for such a notice. In fact, many more changes are expected before a final set becomes effective Oct. 1.
The agency noted in its unveiling that Section G “has been removed from all Federal item sets.” Section GG notably which was enacted last Oct. 1 with the onset of the Patient Driven Payment Model, is used only for Medicare Part A residents. Section G is used to calculate quality measures, including those related to function (short-stay function) and Percent of Residents Whose Ability to Move Independently Worsened (long-stay). (Section GG,)
The pertinent new CMS files can be found in the Downloads section of the MDS 3.0 Technical Information webpage. The agency said Friday morning that the MDS 3.0 Item Set Change History for the October 2020 report also will be posted to this site “shortly.”
