Healthcare Officials Eliminate Nursing Home Assessment Protocols

by Administrator 28. May 2009 09:23
McKnight's Long-Term Care News - It's a wrap on RAPs. Resident Assessment Protocols (RAPs) will be eliminated under a new assessment regimen in development, an official with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Thursday.

RAPs are a series of 18 indicators used by long-term care providers to help monitor patient conditions such as visual function, cognitive loss and others. Typically, RAPs become part of a resident's care plan. Coding of certain items on the current MDS 2.0 trigger the RAPs, but according to CMS, the system will be eliminated under MDS 3.0 when it is put into use in October 2010.

"Everybody has access to the Internet and you can find at least 12,000 clinical practice guidelines for issues triggered out of the MDS," said Karen Schoeneman, deputy director of CMS's Division of Nursing Homes during an Open Door Forum conference call. "We decided to let providers be free and choose whatever clinical practice guidelines they choose to finish the process. We realize this is a large change. That's why we announced it early -- so you have time to figure out want you want to use, or you can use what CMS has, too."

A new acronym providers will have to get used to is CATs, which stands for Care Area Triggers and replaces the RAPs protocol, officials explained.

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John Rothbarth is the owner of the St. Louis Times, a media company focused on serving the informational needs of the St. Louis metro-area aging baby boomer/60+ population. The company publishes the St. Louis Times Resource Guide, St. Louis Times Express, and hosts St. Louis Times Funfest and St. Louis Times Geriatrics Symposium events. The company was founded in 1994 and has remained true to its original mission of 'doing some good for older adults and the professionals who work on their behalf.'

Since 1994 the company has won over 20 National Media Awards. He has participated on many local Boards of Directors, all of whom cater to the needs of our area’s aging population. For 2009 he is also President of Breakthrough Coalition, a consortium of over 250 aging-focused organizations and  professionals dedicated to serving the needs of older adults in the St. Louis / Illinois bi-state area.

John is a native St. Louisan, father of two sons, and graduate of the University of Missouri - Columbia with a BS degree in Business Administration. His interests include reading mysteries, jogging, motorcycling, and aviation - he is a pilot with instrument, multi-engine and seaplane ratings.

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