Steps for Assessment
1. Interdisciplinary team members should select the ARD
based on the reason for the assessment and compliance with
all timing and scheduling requirements outlined in
Chapter 2.
DiraChart MDS item reference
A2300Section Av1.20.1Manual page A-55
Assessment Reference Date
Item Rationale
Quick coding
Answer Codes
Use the item-specific response choices below when structured codes apply.
Response format: Date entry
A2300 — Assessment Reference Date
Enter the value requested for this item using the current CMS date entry format. Verify the entry against Manual page A-55 and the supporting facility documentation.
Item-specific instructions
Coding Guidance
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Coding Instructions
•
Enter the appropriate date on the lines provided. Do not
leave any spaces blank. If the month or day contains
only a single digit, enter a “0” in the first space. Use
four digits for the year. For example, October 2, 2010,
should be entered as: 10-02-2010.
•
For detailed information on the timing of the
assessments, see Chapter 2 on assessment schedules.
•
For discharge assessments, the discharge date item
(A2000) and the ARD item (A2300) must contain the
same date.
Coding Tips
and Special Populations
•
When the resident dies or is discharged prior to the end
of the observation period for a required assessment, the
ARD must be adjusted to equal the discharge date.
•
The observation period may not be extended simply because a resident was out of the
nursing home during part of the observation period (e.g., a home visit, therapeutic leave,
or hospital observation stay less than 24 hours when resident is not admitted). For
example, if the ARD is set at day 13 and there is a 2-day temporary leave during the
observation period, the 2 leave days are still considered part of the observation period.
•
When collecting assessment information, data from the time period of the leave of
absence is captured as long as the particular MDS item permits. For example, if the
family takes the resident to their home for a holiday and the resident falls, the assessor
will capture the fall in J1900: Number of Falls Since Admission/Entry or Reentry or
Prior Assessment (OBRA or Scheduled PPS), whichever is more recent. This
requirement applies to all assessments, regardless of whether they are being completed
for clinical or payment purposes.
DEFINITION
ASSESSMENT
REFERENCE DATE
(ARD)
The specific end-point for the
observation periods in the
MDS assessment process.
Almost all MDS items refer to
the resident’s status over a
designated time period
referring back in time from
the Assessment Reference
Date (ARD). Most frequently,
this observation period, also
called the look-back or
assessment period, is a 7-
day period ending on the
ARD. Observation periods
may cover the 7 days ending
on this date, 14 days ending
on this date, etc.
MDS item matrixAssessment Applicability
See where this item applies across Nursing Home, Swing Bed, discharge, required-use, OBRA, and program or policy columns.
17 relationships6 groups+
Assessment Applicability
See where this item applies across Nursing Home, Swing Bed, discharge, required-use, OBRA, and program or policy columns.
Nursing Home Subsets
Swing Bed Subsets
Shared NH/SB Subsets
OBRA Stand Alone Assessments
OBRA Admission A=01, B=99, F=99, G=^, H=0
MDS Item Matrix v1.20.1 v4
OBRA Quarterly A=02, B=99, F=99, G=^, H=0
MDS Item Matrix v1.20.1 v4
OBRA Annual / Sig Chg A=03, B=99, F=99, G=^, H=0 A= 04, B=99, F=99, G=^, H=0
MDS Item Matrix v1.20.1 v4
OBRA Discharge A=99, B=99, F=10, 11, G=1, 2, H=0
MDS Item Matrix v1.20.1 v4
Program and Policy Use
Item Subset Required Use ISC Skip Patterns
Official CMS source
Verify in the CMS Source
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Reference details
Deeper help after the reference answer
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