In a May 20, 2016 CMS S&C letter, CMS announced that a draft version of the RAI manual is set to go into effect on October 1, 2016, and is now available for preview. The new MDS manual, version 1.14 includes the following changes:
- New Chapter 3, Section GG: Functional Abilities and Goals
- Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 Section A now includes information on the Part A PPS Discharge Assessment
- Appendices F and H have not been included in this draft and will be available when the final manual is issued in September
These new additions to the MDS manual are part of the steps that CMS is taking to create a system of payment for quality over quantity. Read S&C letter “Draft Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) 3.0 User’s Manual, Version 1.14, Release” (Ref: S&C: 16-25-NH).