AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
January 27, 2003
ADSA: NH #2003-001
SUBJECT: REVISED RAI MANUAL
Dear Nursing Home/Facility 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) has completed revisions to the 1995 Long Term Care Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User's manual for the Minimum Data Set (MDS). This updated version:
- Incorporates clarifications to existing coding and transmission policy
- Integrates previous Questions and Answers (Q&A's) into appropriate sections
- Addresses requested clarifications and scenarios concerning problem areas
- Includes information on Medicare SNF PPS
- Became effective January 1, 2003
Since revisions were made to the entire manual, it will be necessary to replace the 1995 version with the new, December 2002, manual.
In addition to replacing the manual, please discard all previously issued CMS and Washington State Q&A documents including:
- HCFA Long Term Care RAI Q&As dated August, 1996
- HCFA Q&As, dated March, 2001
- CMS MDS 2.0 Addendum 2, dated July, 2002
- CMS August 2001 RAI conference Q&As, dated May, 2002
- Washington State RAI Interim Update #4, dated February 20, 1998
- Washington State RAI Q&A Compilation document, dated May 9, 2001
- Washington State Quest for Accuracy Issue #1, dated January, 2002
The new December 2002 Long Term Care RAI User's Manual for MDS 2.0 is the resource for completing the MDS.
The manual is available on the CMS website http://cms.hhs.gov/Medicaid/mds20.
Various software vendors and forms companies as well as provider associations
may also have hard copies of the manual available for purchase. Hard
copies of the manual will not be available from the department.
Enclosed is an overview of the major changes addressed in the
revised manual and a CD that contains the 9 files that comprise the new
manual. The files are in PDF format and will require Adobe Acrobat Reader
for viewing. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download
it for free at
http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/viewers.htm
If you have questions or need further information, please contact Marjorie Ray, RN Washington State RAI Coordinator, at (360) 725-2487 or e-mail rayma@dshs.wa.gov
Sincerely,
Patricia K. Lashway, Director
Residential Care Services
Enclosures: Overview
CD
