Therapy Documentation Compliance in a Skilled Nursing Facility

Lynda JenningsSummit Professional Education instructor · Published Jan 28, 2024 7:00:00 PM

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Quick answer

A comprehensive and accurate document is vital to quality patient care and reimbursement. On October 1 st , 2019, the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was first introduced to skilled nursing professionals with the intent to focus on quality versus quantity of rehab services. This reimbursement model improves the accuracy and appropriateness of payments for classifying patients into payment groups based on specific, data-driven patient characteristics, while simultaneously reducing administrative burden.

*CE credits are not available for this course

As healthcare reimbursement continues to evolve and become more complicated, it is more important than ever that healthcare professionals remain highly skilled in their ability to document a holistic view of the patient, their plan of care, progress, and outcomes. A comprehensive and accurate document is vital to quality patient care and reimbursement. On October 1^st, 2019, the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was first introduced to skilled nursing professionals with the intent to focus on quality versus quantity of rehab services.

This reimbursement model improves the accuracy and appropriateness of payments for classifying patients into payment groups based on specific, data-driven patient characteristics, while simultaneously reducing administrative burden. Therapy documentation compliance in a SNF will equip the clinician with the tools and resources to improve their knowledge and skill set to effectively document their services and show why therapy services are still vital to maximize the outcomes of the patients we serve.

Benefits to Watching:

Improve your knowledge of defensible documentation best practices that support the contents of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) tool
Identify key components of clinical documentation required to justify skilled services, demonstrate patients’ response to treatment, and reflect patient overall outcomes

Lynda Jennings, OTR, RAC-CT, CDP is the Vice President of Clinical Services and Compliance at The Village at Incarnate Word. She is a seasoned clinician and operations manager whose healthcare experience spans 30-plus years with expertise in PDPM, Medicare/Medicaid policy, compliance, documentation, and clinical programming. Prior to joining the team at The Village, she served as Chief Operating Officer at Touchstone Rehabilitation, overseeing the clinical and financial operations of twenty-three skilled nursing rehabilitation centers across Texas.

Lynda is a member of the Texas Occupational Therapy Association serving on the board in various positions including as a past state association president. She is currently the state parliamentarian and CEU content reviewer for TOTA. She is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association and is the Texas representative to the Representative Assembly. She is a member of both Leading Age and American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators. She is certified as a resident assessment coordinator and a dementia practitioner. Lynda is an adjunct clinical instructor at the University of Texas Health Science Center and is a member of the OT advisory board.

Lynda’s On-Demand Video CE Courses:

Code of Conduct for Healthcare Organizations

Elder Abuse: Protecting Our Seniors

Ethics for the SNF Therapy Professional

Implicit Bias in Healthcare

Preventing the Spread of COVID-19

Providing Skilled Clinical Documentation

The ABC’s of Section GG Coding

The Clinician’s Guide to HIPAA

Visit summit-education.com for more information.

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Ethics For The Snf Therapy Professional

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