MDS Consultants

MDS Consultants Get expert, practical help for your facility.

MDS Consultants makes your team more proficient in skilled MDS documentation, ICD-10 coding, Interim Payment Assessments, Medicare regulations, reimbursement maximization and PDPM.

01/20/2026

This proposed legislation highlights ongoing efforts to improve access to timely care for residents in skilled nursing facilities. As provider roles continue to evolve, it will be important for facilities to understand how changes may impact resident assessments, care planning, and the RAI/MDS process to ensure accuracy, compliance, and quality outcomes.

Read the article here: https://www.mcknights.com/news/federal-bill-would-allow-nps-pas-to-perform-more-skilled-nursing-services/

๐Ÿ‘‰ Follow MDS Consultants for updates on regulatory changes and practical guidance for the RAI/MDS.

๐—๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ | ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—œ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—˜๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€: ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฆ๐—ก๐—™ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† & ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒPost-acute care facilities face increasing r...
01/19/2026

๐—๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ | ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—œ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—˜๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€: ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฆ๐—ก๐—™ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† & ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ

Post-acute care facilities face increasing regulatory pressure, higher resident acuity, and evolving quality expectations. Understanding how the RAI system connects to quality and compliance is essential to mitigating risk and supporting resident outcomes.

๐—๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ:
โœ”๏ธReview quality and compliance requirements within a SNF
โœ”๏ธ Identify quality and compliance risk areas in nursing facilities
โœ”๏ธ Discuss ways to link the RAI system processes with quality and compliance

๐Ÿ‘ฅ Who should attend:
Administrators, Directors of Nursing Services, Nurse Assessment Coordinators, MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, and IDT members.

๐ŸŽ“ Trainers:
Jessica Stucin and Linda Winston
๐Ÿ”— Registration required to receive a personal login link.

๐Ÿ‘‰https://www.mdsexpert.com/webinars-training/
Register today and strengthen your SNFโ€™s quality and compliance foundation.

๐ŸšจJanuary 2026 Revisions: Effective with the January 2026 refresh, CMS will replace the existing long-stay antipsychotic ...
01/17/2026

๐ŸšจJanuary 2026 Revisions: Effective with the January 2026 refresh, CMS will replace the existing long-stay antipsychotic medication quality measure with a respecified measure that incorporates Medicare and Medicaid claims data and Medicare Advantage encounter data to supplement MDS data. The scoring cut points for this respecified measure will be set to place providers into 10 equal deciles based on the distribution of providersโ€™ performance. Please refer to CMS Memorandum QSO-25-20-NH REVISED for more information.
https://cstu.io/251f7a

๐Ÿ“ขThe SNF Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance sc...
01/16/2026

๐Ÿ“ขThe SNF Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on the compare tool on https://cstu.io/78022a and the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the April 2026 refresh.
Data contained within the Provider Preview Reports are based on quality assessment data submitted by SNFs from Quarter 3, 2024 through Quarter 2, 2025.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—œ๐——-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต ๐—ฉ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ: ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€/๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป (๐—–๐——๐—–) ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ ๐—ฉ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฐ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿญ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐——๐—– ๐—–๐—ข๐—ฉ๐—œ๐——-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต ๐—ฉ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—น (๐—›๐—–๐—ฃ) ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—บ๐˜€-๐—•๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฐ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฎ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฏ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ก๐—™ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ-๐—”๐˜€๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ (๐—›๐—”๐—œ) ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฐ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฏ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ.
Providers have until February 14, 2026, to review their performance data.
https://cstu.io/cb3b8f

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†!The discussion and questions were so thoughtful that we ran a bit over time โ€” ...
01/13/2026

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†!

The discussion and questions were so thoughtful that we ran a bit over time โ€” and it was well worth it.

A special thank you to ๐—๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ถ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜† for sharing her expertise and helping make this such a great conversation.

If you missed it or want to revisit the discussion, the webinar is free and available to watch โ€” be sure to check it out.

๐Ÿ‘‰https://https://cstu.io/12ee53

If there are topics your team would like to explore further, feel free to reach out. Weโ€™re always happy to talk through education options that support your goals.

The December update of Appendix B to the MDS 3.0 RAI Userโ€™s Manual contains changes to the list of State RAI Coordinator...
01/13/2026

The December update of Appendix B to the MDS 3.0 RAI Userโ€™s Manual contains changes to the list of State RAI Coordinators, MDS Automation Coordinators, and CMS locations and contacts.
https://cstu.io/d62b47

01/13/2026

๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—ฝ: Restorative Nursing vs. Therapy: Clarifying Roles and Documentation Requirements

๐Ÿ“… January 13 | 1:00 PM ET
๐ŸŽ“ Free Public Webinar

๐—œ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น:
โœ…Therapy and restorative nursing regulatory requirements
โœ…Key MDS components impacted by therapy and restorative nursing
โœ…Ways to maximize collaborative processes between therapy and nursing to support compliance and resident outcomes

๐Ÿ“ฌ ๐—”๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†: our latest newsletter, From Coding to Compliance: Avoiding Pitfalls in the 2026 MDS Landscape, explores how overlapping regulations, internal policies, and evolving expectations impact MDS accuracyโ€”and what facilities can do now to stay ahead.

Watch the Tuesday Tip video, read todayโ€™s newsletter, and join us tomorrow for practical guidance your IDT can use right away.
๐Ÿ‘‰ Join us tomorrow: https://cstu.io/1b480a

๐ŸšจThe Five-Star rating preview reports for nursing homes were available in iQIES on January 7, 2026. Nursing Home Care Co...
01/12/2026

๐ŸšจThe Five-Star rating preview reports for nursing homes were available in iQIES on January 7, 2026. Nursing Home Care Compare will update with the December Five-Star data on or around January 14, 2026.
https://cstu.io/29f891

01/09/2026

๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—™๐˜‚๐—ป ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜:

Restorative nursing programs were added to the MDS to capture the nursing work that maintains or improves function after therapy ends โ€” because CMS recognized that progress doesnโ€™t stop when therapy does.

๐ŸŽ‰ ๐—™๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜ ๐—ฃ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ โ€ข ๐—๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏ

๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜ƒ๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜†
๐ŸŒŸ Special guest: Julie Bellucci (Premier Therapy)
๐Ÿ‘‰ Save your spot: mdsexpert.com/webinars-training

๐ŸŽ‰ Weโ€™re kicking off our 2026 Education Year with AAPACN!MDS Consultants is proud to begin our 2026 education year as an ...
01/08/2026

๐ŸŽ‰ Weโ€™re kicking off our 2026 Education Year with AAPACN!

MDS Consultants is proud to begin our 2026 education year as an AAPACN Training Partner, starting with the QAPI Certified Professional (QCPยฎ) Workshop in April 2026.

This nationally recognized workshop is designed to help facilities move beyond compliance and strengthen meaningful QAPI programs that truly impact resident care.
๐Ÿ“… QCPยฎ | April 14โ€“17, 2026
๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ Virtual | Eastern Time
๐ŸŽ“ 15 Continuing Education Credits

๐Ÿ”— Register at https://cstu.io/5568d2

Follow us for additional AAPACN certification opportunities throughout 2026.

01/07/2026

๐ŸŽ‰ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—™๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜ ๐—ฃ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ! ๐ŸŽ‰
This is our FIRST webinar of the year โ€” and youโ€™re invited.

๐Ÿ“… Jan 13 | Restorative Nursing vs. Therapy: Clarifying Roles & Documentation Requirements
๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ: โ€œ๐—œ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜†?โ€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ โ€œ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„?โ€ โ€” ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚.

Attendees of this seminar will:
โ€ข Review therapy and restorative nursing regulatory requirements
โ€ข Discuss key MDS components that can be impacted by therapy and restorative nursing
โ€ข Delve into maximizing collaborative processes between therapy and nursing

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ: Administrators, DNS, NACs/MDS Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Managers, Therapy Staff, and IDT members.

๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐— ๐——๐—ฆ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€: Jessica Stucin, RN, BSN, LNHA, RAC-MT, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA, QCP; Kristine Martinez, RN, BSN, DNS-CT, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA, QCP
Featuring a special guest speaker from our partners at Premier Therapy: Julie Bellucci, MS, CCC-SLP, DCP

๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: https://cstu.io/4f197d
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"With the numerous regulatory bodies that govern long term care (LTC) and skilled nursing facilities (SNF), it is easy t...
01/06/2026

"With the numerous regulatory bodies that govern long term care (LTC) and skilled nursing facilities (SNF), it is easy to feel like there is no end to the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) and Minimum Data Set (MDS) โ€œrules.โ€ There are Federal, State, and sometimes local regulations. There are facility policies that may be in place (in response to a survey deficiency, as an extension of a corporate requirements, or simply โ€œbecause we have always done it this wayโ€)." Click on the link below to read the entire blog for Successful Regulatory Compliance. https://cstu.io/26c96c
https://cstu.io/4eafe1

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