Our three-part series of summer webinars kicks off June 9.
With just over six months left until the most intensive remake of home health’s Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) since its inception in 1999, the experts at SimiTree want to help your organization better understand the major changes ahead.
“Our three-part series of summer webinars kicks off this week, exploring OASIS-E in detail with a look at the changes from several different perspectives,” said J’non Griffin, SimiTree Principal – Coding and OASIS.
“We’ve invited our clinical experts who regularly teach and train to put their expertise into a summer series of educational webinars to help agencies get ready for the implementation of OASIS-E in January, 2023,” Griffin said.
Prep work ahead
From policy and procedure changes which may be required under the revised OASIS to understanding the role of OASIS-E under Value-Based Purchasing, there’s plenty of prep work ahead for agencies throughout the remainder of 2022.
“We’ll show agencies what’s changing, explain how OASIS-E will impact total performance scores under VBP, address where agency policy may need to be revised and explain the role of OASIS-E in the Home Health Quality Reporting Program,” Griffin said.
“Our webinar series will reflect the OASIS-E guidance released a few weeks ago, so it will be the most up-to-date information available,” she added.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a draft version of OASIS-E guidance May 16, along with the latest version of the draft instrument. Since the instrument has undergone several changes and multiple drafts have been released, it’s important for agencies to use the most recent version. CMS also made available a Change Log of revisions in May, Griffin said.
New sections, new items
OASIS-E data collection will begin with OASIS assessments that have a M0090 date on or after Jan. 1, 2023. It will include many new standardized patient data elements mandated for all post-acute care providers by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014.
The D-1 version of OASIS now in use enabled CMS to begin aligning the OASIS with similar data collection instruments used by other providers, such as the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility-Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF-PAI), the Long-Term Care Hospital assessment set, and the Minimum Data Set (MDS) used by Skilled Nursing Facilities.
Griffin said OASIS-E will continue the alignment of data collection by introducing many new assessment items in these primary categories:
- SPADEs: Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements
- BIMs: Brief Interview for Mental Status
- SDHs: Social Determinants of Health
“OASIS-E adds several new categories of data collection for home health,” Griffin said. “In addition to items designed to capture information about the patient’s functional status and abilities, OASIS-E adds sections designed to assess patient cognitive patterns, behavior, and mood, aligning collection of information and guidance across post-acute settings.
“There are new or renamed sections, and items have been reorganized within some sections. The format for item specific guidance has also changed,” Griffin said. “There are updated skip patterns, different time point versions for some items, and more.”
Our Summer Series
SimiTree’s summer webinar series will review the changes and their significance to agencies. There is no charge to attend the summer webinars, but advance registration is required. Separate registration is required for each webinar.
Sessions are:
Session 1: Thursday, June 9, 11 a.m. Eastern
Presented by J’non Griffin, RN, MHA HCS-D, COS-C, HCS-H
SimiTree Principal - Coding and OASIS
“Understanding High-Level OASIS E Changes”
Looking for a high-level overview of OASIS-E changes? SimiTree will offer a broad overview of the OASIS-E assessment set. Principal J'non Griffin will walk through multiple new sections which have been added or renamed, explain how items have been reorganized within the sections, and highlight how the format for item specific guidance has changed. Learn the next steps to get your agency ready for these important changes.
Session II: Thursday, June 23, Noon, Eastern
Presented by Arlynn Hansell, PT, HCS-D, HCS-O, HCS-H, COS-C
SimiTree Director of Education for Coding and OASIS
“Policies, Procedures and Ponderations”
Gain insight into and tips for completing the Mood, Medication and Special Treatment sections of OASIS-E to ensure your agency is aware of needed training. Agencies will recognize where policies and procedures may need development to tackle these sections as well.
Session III: Thursday, July 21, 11 a.m., Eastern
Presented by Jennifer Osburn, RN, HCS-D, COS-C
SimiTree Clinical Learning and Development Solutions Manager
“Finding the Value in OASIS E”
This webinar will demonstrate how OASIS E data is used when defining your agency’s Home Health Quality Reporting portfolio and performance scoring for Value Based Purchasing. Learn which items are used in these programs and why accurate data collection is imperative to agency success.
Need customized training?
SimiTree consultants offer OASIS accuracy training in both on-site and customized online training sessions and are available to schedule OASIS-E training sessions for agencies. Use the form below to ask us about customized training for your agency.