OASIS-Central

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held an open door forum (ODF) for homecare, hospice, and durable medical equipment (DME) on Wednesday, September 28. The following are some OASIS-C highlights that may be of interest to homecare providers. HAVEN/OASIS grouper update The updated versions of HAVEN and the OASIS grouper are now available [...]

Q: Do we use a transfer assessment if patient goes to an inpatient hospice or a home health hospice? A: If the patient is transferred from home health to an inpatient hospice, the transfer assessment with OASIS must be completed (RFA 7). Response “4 – Hospice” would be selected for  “(M2410) To which Inpatient Facility [...]

Given the many differences between the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM/PCS system and the thousands of new codes that will be used, all skilled-nursing facility (SNF) and homecare agency staff members involved in coding should begin preparing for implementation, if they haven’t already. But coders are not the only people who should be involved in training. So [...]

Q: Is a discharge OASIS required if the patient was only seen at start of care (SOC) and the patient was no longer available for a follow-up or second visit by an SN (only an SN is in the case)? A: If only one billable visit was made in a quality episode (SOC/ROC to Transfer/Discharge), [...]

Q: Can an occupational therapist open a case if there are other disciplines such as physical therapy and skilled nursing that will see the patient the next day? A: Because occupational therapy is considered an “ongoing service” by Medicare, an OT may not complete the initial assessment visit or perform the Start of Care assessment [...]

Q: How do you determine the percent of granulation on a surgical wound with staples? A: Surgical wounds closed with staples are considered to be healing by primary intention unless a portion of the wound opens or develops disruptions. Wounds that heal by primary intention do not granulate; therefore, these wounds can only have a [...]