During the next few months, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will start collecting and analyzing data from different skilled nursing facilities, including two members in Alabama and Florida, for a pilot test that makes important changes to Section Q (Return to the Community) of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0. Fran Savard from LeadingAge Ohio also represented us in the CMS work group that developed the new and revised language.
According to CMS, the pilot’s goal is to add new language that will “achieve a balance between giving individual residents a voice and a choice about the services they receive while being sensitive to those individuals who may be unable to voice their preferences or be disturbed by the assessment process.”