Highlights and resources for navigating the changes.

Background

Postacute care physical therapists (PTs) may have heard the buzz about creation of a new Section GG on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and other data-reporting changes under Medicare that are going into effect this fall. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been working to implement requirements of the Improving Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act, which was signed into law in fall 2014.

IMPACT mandates standardization of patient assessment data, quality, and resource use measures for postacute care (PAC) providers, including home health agencies (HHAs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), and long-term care hospitals (LTCHs). The goal is for postacute care data to be comparable across settings.