DOH Holding Webinar on New CMI Data Collection Process on Wednesday
On June 12th, the Department of Health (DOH) issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) laying out the schedule for collecting and verifying the Minimum Data Set (MDS) data that will be used when calculating the Case Mix Index (CMI) for January 2020 rates. As we have previously reported, DOH is implementing a streamlined approach to collecting this data and will be presenting a webinar to familiarize providers with the new process on Wed., June 17th. The session will be held twice that day, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., and will also be recorded for on-demand viewing. We urge members to make sure that MDS staff involved in the roster upload process take the opportunity to participate on Wednesday. The link to register for the 10 a.m. session is here; the registration for 1 p.m. is here. Because each webinar is limited to 500 participants, we recommend that those who are interested in learning about the new process but are not directly involved in submitting the data view the webinar when DOH posts it for on-demand access.
The schedule that the DAL lays out for providers starts with the webinar. After the webinar, providers will have until June 28th to review the list of residents and the associated MDS assessment information that DOH will post on the Health Commerce System (HCS) and identify those individuals who were in the facility on the picture date. Providers will then have the opportunity to submit any additional information to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to correct payer and special population (i.e., TBI, BMI, dementia) information. This will also provide a chance to verify that the correct assessment is being identified as the source for the data that will be used for CMI calculation purposes. DOH will then download the federal MDS database again to capture any updates, and providers will have until July 17th to validate the final information. Providers will have until July 24th to submit the required certifications.
We are grateful that the Department has delayed this process to allow providers to get past some of the most challenging days of the pandemic and appreciate the opportunity to work with DOH staff on this enhancement. We are optimistic that it will make the process more efficient for all. However, if your organization is still facing significant challenges and you believe that the timelines established in the DAL would be problematic for your facility, please let us know as soon as possible. The DAL is available here.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841