Are you ready for OASIS C?

All home health agencies that deal with Medicare or Medicaid must use the new OASIS C question set starting January 1, 2010. Lewis will be ready, but there are also steps that your agency must take.

Summary

Where can I find more information?
What will Lewis do?
What do I need to do?

Where can I find more information?

These are some of the resources available to agencies preparing for OASIS C.

CMS Information

CMS offers background information about OASIS C on their site. They also offer several PDF documents, including the following:

• OASIS C Final (OASISfinal.pdf) – the complete question set as it would appear to a clinician.
• OASIS B1 to OASIS C Crosswalk (OASIScrosswalk.pdf) – a comparison of each question for each time point between the two OASIS versions.

To download these documents, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HomeHealthQualityInits/ and click
OASIS C in the left navigation menu.

CMS Train-the-Trainer Calls

CMS is offering a series of free conference calls about OASIS C implementation.

• October 22, 2009, 2:30 pm EDT – “Development and Impact on Agency Operations”
  
• November 12, 2009, 1:30 pm EST – “Highlights of OASIS-C Changes by Section”
  
• December 8, 2009, 1:30 pm EST – “Quality Measurement and Reporting” 

For more information about these calls, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HomeHealthQualityInits/ and click CMS Sponsored Calls in the left navigation menu. You can also find links to information about the Medicare Learning Network (MLN) on this page, including subscription information. Details about these conference calls will be posted to the MLN near the end of September.

NAHC

National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) has posted several documents that were provided by CMS to OASIS state coordinators on its site. These include an updated question-and-answer document and guidance for each question.

To download these documents, go to http://www.nahc.org/regulatory/home.html and find the OASIS C heading near the bottom of the page.

Other Resources

If you need additional information about OASIS C, contact your state OASIS coordinator. NAHC or other national or state home health care associations may also be able to provide further guidance.

What will Lewis do?

We have been working to ensure that our software is ready for OASIS C.

We are also updating Episode Master to support the new question set. Episode Master is a clinical audit service designed to decrease errors within your patient documentation.

What do I need to do?

What you need to do is dependent upon the product that you use. For OASIS C information that is specific to your product, click on the appropriate link below:

Patron
Prompt
Patron POC