new to MDS

surveyors will take in to account that there is a different assessor. make sure to update ADL's and document your rational in progress notes separate from the care conference note.You should be well covered if you do the above.

jaime

Hi, I am new to MDS. I have been doing it for about a month. I am sure other MDS coordinators out there have come across an mds done by previous coordinators who dont agree with their assessment.I need advice please...if a surveyor sees this...should I cover my self with some kind of worksheet???

If you are new to the MDS process it would be a really good idea for you to get some training in it. Not just the "read the RAI manual" that some places think is sufficient. AANAC ( www.aanac.org) has a lot of good resources and you can get certified thru them too. It is a lot easier to deal with surveyors if you have a good understanding of what the MDS is all about. It is also good to be very familiar with what the RAI manual really says. For example, coding doctors orders: its not how many orders in a 14 day periods, its the # of days new orders changed a patients care in the 14 day period (admission orders and routine drug renewals don't count). If the assessments and paperwork support what is on the MDS your back is covered.

If you find an MDS that you believe is inaccurate, you should do a correction and send it off to the state. We had a really dumb MDS person for a few months who managed to mess up lots of assessments. The surveyors came in and were going to cite us until they found out she had been fired and corrections were in process.

my rnac has each discipline do their own section...she makes copies of behaviors etc for proof. you must remember one thing. you are on a island alone, make sure your documentation has back up. doesn't matter what the rnac before you said, what matters is that you do what your findings are. if the proof isn't there, you can't use it, especially adl section. the umr team should be able to read that mds and know the resident....if you need any help...give a hoot!!!