Consequences of Non-Compliance An agency may: • Be fined for untimely submission of the OASIS. • Not receive reimbursement for the patient/client care that has been provided. • Be terminated from the Medicare program. Conventions/Rules for Completing OASIS Listed below are conventions, or general rules, that should be observed when completing OASIS. Item- specific guidance is provided in Chapter 3 of the OASIS Guidance Manual. The OASIS Guidance is updated periodically to provide additional clarification based on “Frequently Asked Questions” sent to CMS. Each patient/client scenario, clinical status, and social and environmental situation is unique, requiring professional/clinical judgment and care coordination. In the event you cannot resolve your understanding of the OASIS questions, discuss with the supervisor. General OASIS Item Conventions • Understand the time period under consideration for each item. Report what is true on the day of assessment unless a different time period has been indicated in the item or related guidance. Day of assessment is defined as the 24 hours immediately preceding the home visit and the time spent by the clinician in the home. • For OASIS purposes, a quality episode must have a beginning (that is, an SOC or ROC assessment) and a conclusion (that is, a Transfer or Discharge assessment) to be considered a complete quality episode. • If the patient’s/client’s ability or status varies on the day of the assessment, report the patient’s/client’s “usual status” or what is true greater than 50% of the assessment time frame, unless the item specifies differently. • Minimize the use of NA and unknown responses. • Some items allow a dash response. A dash (–) value indicates that no information is available, and/or an item could not be assessed. This most often occurs when the patient/client is unexpectedly transferred, discharged, or dies before assessment of the item could be completed. CMS expects dash usage to be a rare occurrence. • Responses to items documenting a patient’s/client’s current status should be based on independent observation of the patient’s/client’s condition and ability at the time of the assessment without referring back to prior assessments. Several process items require documentation of prior care, at the time of, or since the time of the most recent SOC or ROC OASIS assessment. These instructions are included in item guidance for the relevant OASIS questions.
