AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

2005 NH "Dear Administrator" Letters

December 27, 2005

ADSA:  NH #2005-037
REVISIONS TO RAI USER’S MANUAL

Dear Nursing Facility/Home Administrator:

This letter contains important information for facility staff responsible for completing the Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the release of the sixth set of updates to the December 2002 revision of the Long Term Care Facility Resident Assessment Instrument User’s Manual Version 2.0.  The changes, which include clarifications of existing policy, are effective as of the CMS posting date (November 23, 2005).  These changes deal primarily with the new Medicare 53 group RUG-III SNF PPS  that will become effective January 1, 2006.  There are no changes to the Washington State Medicaid Case-Mix Payment System as a result of this CMS update.

The update document is 61 pages in length and includes the following:

• A one page revision table identifying the changes
• Replacement pages for the title page, an acknowledgment page and a table of contents page
• 28 replacement pages for the entire Chapter 6: Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System
• 6 replacement pages for the entire Appendix B: State Agency Contact persons
• 23 replacement pages for the entire Appendix I: MDS Item Matrix

The revisions are available on the CMS website at: 
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NursingHomeQualityInits/20_NHQIMDS20.asp
Scroll down the page to the “Downloads” section, then select “November Update 2005”. 

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Marjorie Ray, RN, Washington State RAI Coordinator, at (360) 725-2487 or e-mail at rayma@dshs.wa.gov

Sincerely,

Joyce Pashley Stockwell, Director
Residential Care Services