MDS w/change in Ownership

[S.A. Curran]

Question for the group:       If a Medicare skilled nursing facility changes ownership at the beginning of a month, what should the process(es) be for completion of the MDSs for residents that continue to remain certified for Medicare Part-A after the change in ownership?  There will be a change in Intermediaries, however, there will be no change in the skilled nursing facility's Medicare provider number.  There seems to be 2 options.     Option 1 - Let's say the change in ownership occurred on March 1, 2004, and a resident was admitted and certified for Medicare Part-A coverage on February 21, 2004.  A 5-day assessment was done on February 25, 2004.  The 14-day assessment would be due on or about March 5th, 2004.  One school of thought says the new owners would simply continue with the resident's existing assessment schedule.     Option 2 - same resident scenario as in Option 1 but instead of continuing the resident's existing assessment schedule, the new ownership simply picks up the resident as a new admission on March 1, 2004, and completes a 5-day assessment on March 5, 2004.  This school of thought treats the change of ownership as if the resident had transferred from one skilled nursing facility to another skilled nursing facility.  The number of Medicare covered days the resident used prior to the change in ownership would we treated as a prior SNF stay.       Both of these options seem acceptable, however, with option 1 there could be issues with availability of documentation to support the 5-day assessment that was completed prior to the change in ownership plus there would be claims filing issues due to the change in Intermediaries.  Option 2 appears to be the more reasonable choice and would eliminate any claims filing issues.  Is there a better process?   S.A. Curran [EMAIL PROTECTED]