Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Technical Information

What's New -

June 7, 2023

MDS Data Specifications V3.01.1 (FINAL) and OSA Data Specifications V3.01.0 (FINAL) Posted

The MDS Data Specifications V3.01.1 (FINAL) and the OSA Data Specifications V3.01.0 (FINAL) are now available for download under the Downloads section at the bottom of this webpage.  These specifications will go into effect on October 1, 2023. There are both item and edit updates in the FINAL version, so please review the Item Change and Edit Change Reports.  The version notes with [V3.01.1] are the revisions since the DRAFT version. 

Note that the OSA Specifications are versioned as V3.01.0 because those specifications were not posted previously. It is critical to include item A0300A with a value of 1 in the XML submission of OSA assessments, in order for iQIES to process an assessment as an OSA. 

April 7, 2023

Subject: MDS 3.0 Care Area Trigger (CAT) Specifications V1.06.0 for implementation on October 1, 2023

The MDS 3.0 CAT specifications (V1.06.0) are now available in the Downloads section below.  The specifications currently consist of the PDF documentation files, which describe the logic changes and provide pseudocode.  Note that many of the CAT triggers are changing as a result of the V3.01.0 MDS Data Specification changes already posted. 

In the recent MDS vendor call, it was determined that the fixed-length string test files provided in past CAT specification packages are still of use to vendors.  Therefore, they will be posted as an addendum at a later date.

February 23, 2023

Subject: iQIES for Minimum Data Set (MDS) Submission Release on April 17, 2023

CMS is excited to announce that the transition of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessment submission and reporting functionality to the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) will occur on April 17, 2023.

To properly prepare for the transition, the QIES Assessment Submission and Processing (ASAP) system for MDS submissions will be turned off on Thursday, April 13 at 8:00 pm EST. Providers should submit completed MDS records prior to 8:00 pm EST on April 13th to QIES (ASAP) or wait until 8:00 am EST on April 17th to submit data in iQIES. Providers are expected to take into account all requirements when determining the date they submit completed MDS records, including but not limited to, submission timeliness, claims processing, and care planning requirements.

CMS will provide additional information through various email notifications regarding training, technical guidance, details on what to expect, and more.

Register for an iQIES Account

Please note that failure to obtain access to iQIES prior to April 17, 2023 will impact your ability to submit MDS records. As mentioned in previous communications, nursing home and swing bed providers who are required to submit data to CMS must have at least one staff person assigned and approved as the facility Provider Security Official (PSO), who works for the provider and is responsible for approving all other users for their facility. For information and instructions to register for an iQIES account, please visit: https://qtso.cms.gov/news-and-updates/action-required-register-iqies-account

February 14, 2023

MDS Data Specifications V3.01.0 (DRAFT) Posted

The MDS Data Specifications V3.01.0 (DRAFT) are now available for download under the Downloads section at the bottom of this webpage.  These specifications will go into effect on October 1, 2023.  There are a significant number of changes in this version, primarily in Sections A, D, GG, J, K, N, O and Q.  Also, Section G has been removed.  Please refer to the Item Change and Edit Change reports for details.  Note that these specifications no longer contain the OSA assessment; the specifications for that assessment will be posted separately at a later date.  A FINAL version of these specifications will be posted in May 2023.

September 23, 2022

jRAVEN V.1.8.2 Posted

The Resident Assessment Validation and Entry System (jRAVEN) was developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). jRAVEN is a free Java based software application which provides an option for facilities to collect and maintain Minimum Data Set (MDS) Assessment data for subsequent submission to the appropriate state and/or national data repository. jRAVEN displays the MDS Item Sets similar to the paper version of the forms. Please consult the jRAVEN Installation and User Guides for additional information.

jRAVEN v1.8.2 is now available for download under the Downloads section at the bottom of this web page. Users do not need a previous version of jRAVEN to download, install or use jRAVEN v1.8.2.

jRAVEN v1.8.2 includes the following update:

• The new MDS Validation Utility Tool (VUT), v3.6.1, updated to support the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Codes for I0020B that are in effect as of 10/1/2022, as well as the remapping of GG Discharge items when a dash is used from Warning Edit -3897 to Warning Edit -3908 (Issues 18 and 19 in Errata 3.00.8).
• The new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) Grouper, v2.1000, updated to include the ICD codes that are effective 10/01/2022.

September 19, 2022

PDPM Grouper V2.1000

An updated version of the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) Grouper V2.1000 has been posted in the Downloads section below. This update is just a documentation update to clarify the following:

• Jars are packaged differently (snf-x.x.x-jar-with-dependencies removed). Instead, jars in the “lib” folder should be included on the classpath to avoid compilation issues (refer to snf.bat).
• The software now uses a Protobuf bin file in place of the original/plain CSV files for processing; however, to maintain consistency, we are still providing the corresponding CSV files in the src\main\resources\specTableCSV folder.

September 8, 2022

PDPM Grouper V2.1000

An updated version of the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) Grouper has been posted in the Downloads section below with the new version number V2.1000.  This is an update to the PDPM Grouper as a Java Archive (JAR) library with FY 2023 ICD-10 codes.

August 19, 2022

FY2023 ICD-10 codes for MDS V3.00.1 (FINAL) Data Submission Specifications Posted

An updated Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Codes database for the Minimum Data Set (MDS) V3.00.1 (FINAL) Data Specifications is now available for download under the Downloads section at the bottom of this web page.  The database contains two new tables.  The table pdpm_icd_codes_FY2023 contains the allowed FY2023 codes for I0020B, while table pdpm_icd_codes_2_FY2023 contains FY2023 codes that can also be used in I0020B for states that opt in to calculating PDPM on standalone OBRA assessments.

Onboarding Schedule for MDS Transition to iQIES
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is excited to announce that we are preparing to release the Internet Quality Improvement Evaluation System (iQIES) for Minimum Data Set (MDS) submission in early 2023. Although the MDS submission functionality will not be available immediately, we encourage Provider Security Officials (PSOs) to request access to iQIES as soon as possible, as doing so will allow for a smoother transition prior to the go live date. At a minimum, at least one PSO needs to be selected, but CMS highly recommends that at least two PSOs are designated so that there is a higher likelihood that there will be someone available to approve/reject iQIES access requests. Please reference the iQIES onboarding schedule below for the MDS transition to iQIES.

For more information on the POS role, please visit our: iQIES Quick Reference Guides/Job Aids

July 6, 2022

Errata V3.00.8 for MDS V3.00.1 (FINAL) Data Submission Specifications Posted

An updated errata for the Minimum Data Set (MDS) V3.00.1 (FINAL) Data Specifications is now available for download under the Downloads section at the bottom of this web page. Two issues have been added. Discharge performance Items in Section GG were receiving the Annual Performance Update (APU) warning edits when A0310B = [01] instead of when A0310H = [1]. The mappings of these items are corrected in the resolutions to these issues. These changes will be applied retroactively on October 1, 2022.

The information listed below under the "Downloads" section is subject to change. CMS will communicate any changes to these materials on this page as well as through Open Door Forums hosted by CMS.