Do not be afraid to use grace days! When they are used appropriately they are not a problem. It is appropriate to use grace days whenever you need to to get reimbursed for the care you are providing! One appropriate use of grace days is to accurately show the amount of therapy that a resident is receiving.
Remember on the 5 day assessment, you do not always need to show that the resident received the 5 days and required minutes of therapy. On the 5 day assessment, section T will indicate the expected amount of therapy and you will be paid based upon that estimate. This works for the lower levels of therapy. If you expect someone to fall into the very high rehab levels, then you need to show that they received the full days and minutes of therapy. Our therapy departments are only open 5 days a week so I use grace days on the 5 day assessment for those residents that I expect to fall into the RV therapy groups. Sometimes they do not make their full day/s or minutes in spite of using the grace days, but at least we tried!
The important thing, is that you are honestly claiming the level of care that you provided and that you are being reimbursed for the care you are giving.
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I know that 5 days of 1 therapy is needed for a
resident. However, very often, in order to get
the 5 days, I have to use grace days (gd). I use
the gd because the resident did not get admitted
to our TCU early on the day of admission or had a
skilled need and could not participate in therapy
right away, or no therapy on Sunday, etc.
Sometimes I use all 8 days as the look back
period and still only have 3 or 4 days of therapy
minutes to use in Sect. P. I know that gd are
only to be used sparingly. I don't know which is
more important - use of grace days or 5 days of
therapy. What is the accepted protocol to follow
in this situation?
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-----------------------------------------------------------/
Caroline Larson, RN, MS, RAC-C
MDS/PRI Coordinator
Fairport Baptist Homes, Fairport, NY 14450
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