Frequently Asked Questions are used to provide additional information and/or statutory guidance not found in State Medicaid Director Letters, State Health Official Letters, or CMCS Informational Bulletins. The different sets of FAQs as originally released can be accessed below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Care managers often do not document data elements in the assessment and care plan measures unless the member has "a problem." For example, they may not document that they assessed the member's vision or need for an assistive device if no problem was identified. How can states or plans address this issue?
Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) plan managers should provide training on proper documentation practices to care managers and other delegated staff. States and MLTSS plans could consider including data field entry options to remind care managers to record all results of the assessment, even if findings are negative, that is, the member does not have a problem or need assistance or services. For example, states and plans could include a question in the member’s record that requires the care manager to document both whether an assessment was performed and whether a problem was identified, along with another required field to include the details of the problem if there was a problem identified.
FAQ ID:89046
SHARE URLWhich measures assess institutional rebalancing and utilization measures?
The following measures assess institutional rebalancing and utilization:
- LTSS Admission to an Institution from the Community
- LTSS Minimizing Institutional Length of Stay
- LTSS Successful Transition after Long-Term Institutional Stay
FAQ ID:91101
SHARE URLDo I need to use value sets to calculate these institutional rebalancing and utilization measures? If so, where can I find the value sets?
Yes. Value sets are the complete set of procedure and codes used to identify a service or condition included in a measure. All three of the rebalancing measures—LTSS Admission to an Institution from the Community, LTSS Minimizing Institutional Length of Stay, and LTSS Successful Transition after Long-Term Institutional Stay—use the "Institutional Facility"value set (XLSX, 2.88 MB). See Table 2 in the "LTSS Value Sets to Codes" tab. Table 1 in the "LTSS Measures to Value Sets" tab shows each value set needed for each measure.
FAQ ID:91106
SHARE URLShould unpaid or denied claims be included in calculating the institutional utilization and rebalancing measures?
No, include paid claims only (days denied for any reason should not be included) for all three of the rebalancing measures—LTSS Admission to an Institution from the Community, LTSS Minimizing Institutional Length of Stay, and LTSS Successful Transition after Long-Term Institutional Stay.
FAQ ID:91111
SHARE URLAre there exclusions for the Long Term Services and Supports Admission to an Institution from the Community measure's eligible population (denominator)?
No. However, when identifying the measure’s denominator from the eligible population, there are a few cases in which you should not include member months. For example, do not include months when the plan member was residing in an institutional facility for the entire month (that is, there were no days in the month spent residing in the community). If a member died, do not include the month during which the member died and any subsequent months of enrollment in the measure’s denominator.
FAQ ID:91116
SHARE URLAre there exclusions for the Long Term Services and Supports Admission to an Institution from the Community measure's numerator?
When calculating the measure’s numerator (number of admissions to an institution), do not include admissions that are direct transfers from another institution, admissions from the hospital that originated from an institution, or admissions for individuals who do not meet the continuous enrollment criteria. If the member’s admission resulted in death in the institution or death within one day of discharge from the institution, do not include the admission in the numerator.
FAQ ID:91121
SHARE URLCan the community residence include assisted living?
Yes, people admitted to an institution who were residing in the community prior to their admission may include those residing in assisted living, adult foster care, or another setting that is not defined as an institution.
FAQ ID:91131
SHARE URLIs the Long Term Services and Supports Admission to an Institution from the Community measure risk-adjusted?
Yes, this measure is risk-adjusted, using risk stratification by age. Results are reported separately for four age groups (18-64, 65-74, 75-84, 85 and older) for each of the length of stay classifications (short-term stay, medium-term stay, and long-term stay).
FAQ ID:91136
SHARE URLWhat is reuse?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expects states receiving Federal Financial Participation to share with other states project artifacts, documents and other related materials, and systems components and code for leverage and reuse.
Read the state Medicaid director letter (SMD #18-005) on reuse (PDF, 70.77 KB). Reuse can be accomplished through sharing or acquiring:
- An entire set of business services or systems, including shared hosting of a system or shared acquisition and management of a turnkey service
- A complete business service or a stand-alone system module
- Subcomponents such as code segments, rule bases, configurations, customizations, and other parts of a system or module that are designed for reuse
FAQ ID:93631
SHARE URLHow do states get started with reuse?
To get started with reuse, a state can:
- Review the state Medicaid director letter (SMD #18-005) on reuse (PDF, 70.77 KB)
- View the introductory video to get familiar with the concept and framework of reuse
- Contact the Medicaid Enterprise Systems (MES) at MES@cms.hhs.gov to request access to the MES Reuse Repository
FAQ ID:93636
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