Even industry experts are often confused by the rules for baseline care plans laid out in F655 in Appendix PP, “Guidance to Surveyors for Long-term Care Facilities,” of the State Operations Manual, particularly what exactly does—and doesn’t—have to be done within that initial 48-hour window post-admission. So AANAC asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to confirm or deny three suppositions. The responses provided by a CMS official answer quite a few questions, including how MDS item V0200C2 (Date of Care Planning) fits into the picture and the requirements for providing an updated baseline care plan. Here are their insights.

Baseline care plans have been required since late November 2017, but nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) and other interdisciplinary team (IDT) members are still navigating through a lot of misinformation to learn the rules of the road for F655 (Baseline Care Plans) as detailed in Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual.

Here are seven common myths that need to be vanquished:

The baseline care plan requirement under F-tag F655 (Baseline Care Plan) in §483.21 (Comprehensive Resident-Centered Care Plans) of the Code of Federal Regulations goes into effect Nov. 28, 2017. Officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) addressed common frequently asked questions (FAQs), as well as follow-up questions from callers, during a Sept. 7 National Provider Call. Topics covered during the call range from working weekends to revising the baseline care plan as needed prior to the development of the comprehensive care plan. Note: Access the call slides, as well as the transcript and audio recording when available, here.