August 1, 2023

F-Tags in Review: F800 Food and Nutrition Services

F-Tag 800 states: “The facility must provide each resident with a nourishing, palatable, well-balanced diet that meets his or her daily nutritional and special dietary needs, taking into consideration the preferences of each resident.” The facility must present residents with a nutritional meal that meets individual dietary requirements. The purpose is to maintain the resident’s weight or to increase/reduce their weight to retain a healthy lifestyle. Residents have the right to make choices regarding their…

What is Considered an E-Visit?

Medicare e-visits occur between a doctor, Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP), various other provider types and a patient. These e-visits were designed to occur through an online portal but with more recent laxities based upon the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare is allowing additional provider types to provide telehealth and virtual visits. This has occurred as a result of the current national emergency and states applying for waiver 1135 relief. Many states are waiving co-pays and prior…

Federal Regulations Governing the Resident Assessment Instrument Process

The statutory authority for the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) is located in the Social Security Act  amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987 at Section 1819(f)(6)(A-B) for Medicare and 1919(f)(6)(A-B) for Medicaid. The Social Security Act requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to specify a tool of core elements for use in conducting assessments of nursing home residents. The tool is called the Minimum Data Set (MDS). It…