• FY 2009: Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing For SNFs; Final Rule (73 FR 46416), is available for download from the "List of SNF Federal Regulations" page.
  • Errata -- The title for Table 10 incorrectly identifies the wage index for Cedar Rapids, IA as 0.8924.  As indicated in the actual table and Table 8 in the Appendix, the correct value is 0.8919.
    
    
• FY 2009: Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing For SNFs; Proposed Rule (73 FR 25918), is available for download from the "List of SNF Federal Regulations" page.
  
  
• Minimum Data Set, Version 3 (MDS 3.0) and STRIVE--On January 15, 2008, CMS released the revised proposed version of the (MDS 3.0), including the form and instructions. Additional details can be found on the Time Study (STRIVE) webpage.
  
  
• Billing Information for SNFs is available in chart form for download from the "Education & Training" page.
  

• STRIVE Time Study - Work on Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification (STRIVE), a national nursing home time study, has begun. The STRIVE team conducted two pilots this spring. The first pilot took place in March in Annapolis, Maryland at the Spa Creek Center, and the second pilot took place in June in Madrid, Iowa at the Madrid Home for the Aging. The studies yielded useful information, and we would like to thank the staffs of both Spa Creek Center and the Madrid Home for the Aging for their excellent cooperation.
  
  In June 2006 our contractor Iowa Foundation for Medical Care (IFMC) began conducting the study in Iowa. The study took place in a total of fifteen states including Florida and Washington, D.C. We thank Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington for sponsoring the studies in their states. Additional thanks go out to the Texas Medical Foundation (TMF), the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) in Texas, which headed up the studies in that state. Thank you to participating nursing homes and provider associations for their participation and support of the project. On-site data collection ended in August 2007 and we are beginning the analytic phase of the project.
  
  
• Web Based Training on SNF Consolidated Billing is available on our CMS website. The training course covers general information about SNFs, consolidated billing, excluded services, consolidated billing during a noncovered stay, and "under arrangement" agreements. After taking the course, you should be able to identify SNF coverage guidelines, understand why Congress enacted consolidated billing, describe consolidated billing, recognize situations in which SNF consolidated billing requirements do not apply, identify services excluded from consolidated billing, identify services included under consolidated billing for beneficiaries in a noncovered stay, and understand the need for "under arrangement" agreements between SNFs and other providers or suppliers. You can link to this Web Based Training course below at Related Links Inside CMS.
  
  
• A SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) fact sheet is available on our CMS website. The SNF PPS fact sheet covers rates and consolidated billing. You can link to the fact sheet below under Related Links Inside CMS.
  
  Print copies can be ordered from the Medicare Learning Network Product Ordering Page found below under Related Links Inside CMS. On the MLN Product Ordering Page, scroll down to Medicare Payment Policy. The title of the fact sheet is Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System, and the order number is ICN# 6821.
  
  
• Notice Regarding Provider Revalidation and the NPI
  We would like to clarify an issue which arose at the June 6, 2006 Skilled Nursing Facility-Long Term Care Open Door Forum. We contacted the Division of Provider/Supplier Enrollment. The revalidation process has not yet started, and Fiscal Intermediaries will contact facilities to notify them when the validation paperwork is required.
  
  Please note, however, that effective June 5, 2006, new facilities or facilities that need to update/change enrollment information are required to use the new 855 form. The National Provider Identifier (NPI) number is required on this form. Facilities that are not making changes do NOT have to complete a new 855.
  
  
• Swing Bed Manual Changes - Revised November 2005
  
  
• RUG-53 Education Material - RUG-53 will be implemented with dates of service beginning January 1, 2006. Information on the new nine groups is included in the following zip file. The Crosswalk document shows the services, conditions, and requirements that apply for each of the 53 RUG groups. The SNF PPS Refinement documents discuss the 9 new groups, software updates, payment implications, and other areas related to RUG-53. There are two versions of the SNF PPS Refinement; one for Skilled Nursing Facilities and the other for Hospital Swing Beds. The Crosswalk and the SNF PPS Refinement files should be used together for training and educational purposes. The documents were not created to be stand-alone material.
  

Downloads Related Links Inside CMS MLN Product Ordering Page SNF PPS Fact Sheet Web Based Training Including SNF Consolidated Billing Related Links Outside CMS Time Study (STRIVE) Website

Page Last Modified: 08/08/2008 8:48:54 AM
Help with File Formats and Plug-Ins