CMS presents, as its Happy New Year wish, the latest version of the Outcome Assessment Information Set (OASIS) – OASIS-C2. And next year’s “Happy New Year” gift will be implementing the new OASIS-C2 January 1, 2017.
Three new standardized items & ten modified, renumbered items appear in OASIS-C2. The newest OASIS looks a bit different, too. Single data-entry boxes replace check boxes in OASIS-2 for items with only one possible response, and are formatted like Hospice Information Set (HIS) items – a plus for the RN who works in both home health and hospice.
Pressure ulcer stages in OASIS-C2 change to Arabic numbers instead of Roman numerals, just like the ICD-10 diagnosis codes that describe each pressure ulcer. Consistency can be a good thing.
These changes bring home health in line with requirements of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014. The IMPACT Act drives standardization of some key assessment, data collection, and care strategies across post-acute care settings, including inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, long-term care hospitals, and home health agencies.
OASIS-C2 is part of the IMPACT Act’s effort to ultimately ensure that Medicare beneficiaries receive well-coordinated, high-quality care in all post-acute care settings that prevent potentially avoidable events that could result in re-hospitalization. The goal is better patient care, and lower health-care costs.
For more detail about the OASIS-C2, view my free OASIS C2 Webinar recorded live 1.26.2016. Visit the “Links & Gifts” page at noyceconsulting.com for the link to watch the webinar recording.