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Check out the New Transfer Assessment

Mon, Jan 11, 2010

Best Practices

Check out the New Transfer Assessment

OASIS-C became effective on January 1. With all the changes, it’s possible to overlook revisions to the transfer assessment. The new assessment incorporates updated versions of OASIS-B1 data elements from the patient tracking sheet, along with the items on emergent care and inpatient facility admission or discharge.

With OASIS-C, the transfer assessment has increased in size. It incorporates nine new data elements:

• Influenza and pneumonia vaccines (M1040, M1045, M1050, M1055)

• Heart failure symptoms and treatment (M1500, M1510)

• Medication intervention (M2004)

• Patient/caregiver drug education intervention (M2015)

• Intervention synopsis (M2400)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will use these additional items to calculate quality measures related to reasons for hospitalization and process measures on implementation of best practices.

The transfer assessment with OASIS-B1 was relatively easy to complete. Now, completion will require digging into the clinical record to learn about care the patient received from all disciplines. It is likely that the assessment will report some “no” answers. Example: Five days after admission, the patient was hospitalized for an exacerbation of heart failure. The nurse had detected and acted on the symptoms of heart failure but there had not been time to teach medications, or to implement a program to prevent falls and pressure ulcers.

After 10 years, CMS has clarified a controversy. The instructions for OASIS-B1 and its predecessors directed completion of a transfer assessment for a patient’s “transfer to an inpatient facility for 24 hours or longer.” There was no mention of admission. The guidance manual now directs completion of the transfer assessment when “a patient is admitted to an inpatient facility for 24 hours or longer.” This clarification can create a challenge. Example: The patient is held in the emergency room for 20 hours before being admitted. The transfer assessment would be due 44 hours after the patient left home.

“Mastering Medicare in 2010,” a seminar presented by Beacon Health, will discuss the latest on OASIS-C to help agencies master this challenge. For more information about the seminar, click on — http://www.beaconhealth.org/medicare2010.html.

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DATE POSTED: 011010 BY-LINE: None

FILE NAME: 011010transfer

Check out the New Transfer Assessment

OASIS-C became effective on January 1. With all the changes, it’s possible to overlook revisions to the transfer assessment. The new assessment incorporates updated versions of OASIS-B1 data elements from the patient tracking sheet, along with the items on emergent care and inpatient facility admission or discharge.

With OASIS-C, the transfer assessment has increased in size. It incorporates nine new data elements:

· Influenza and pneumonia vaccines (M1040, M1045, M1050, M1055)

· Heart failure symptoms and treatment (M1500, M1510)

· Medication intervention (M2004)

· Patient/caregiver drug education intervention (M2015)

· Intervention synopsis (M2400)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will use these additional items to calculate quality measures related to reasons for hospitalization and process measures on implementation of best practices.

The transfer assessment with OASIS-B1 was relatively easy to complete. Now, completion will require digging into the clinical record to learn about care the patient received from all disciplines. It is likely that the assessment will report some “no” answers. Example: Five days after admission, the patient was hospitalized for an exacerbation of heart failure. The nurse had detected and acted on the symptoms of heart failure but there had not been time to teach medications, or to implement a program to prevent falls and pressure ulcers.

After 10 years, CMS has clarified a controversy. The instructions for OASIS-B1 and its predecessors directed completion of a transfer assessment for a patient’s “transfer to an inpatient facility for 24 hours or longer.” There was no mention of admission. The guidance manual now directs completion of the transfer assessment when “a patient is admitted to an inpatient facility for 24 hours or longer.” This clarification can create a challenge. Example: The patient is held in the emergency room for 20 hours before being admitted. The transfer assessment would be due 44 hours after the patient left home.

“Mastering Medicare in 2010,” a seminar presented by Beacon Health, will discuss the latest on OASIS-C to help agencies master this challenge. For more information about the seminar, click on — http://www.beaconhealth.org/medicare2010.html.

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This post was written by:

Casey Ramsdell

Casey Ramsdell

Casey is an editorial assistant at Beacon Health, the homecare division of HCPro,Inc. She edits aide training resources, contributes to Beacon's print and electronic publications, writes the free e-zine, Healthcare Training Weekly, and manages OASIS-Central. Casey has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University in Boston.

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