The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued version 17.0 of the MDS 3.0 Quality Measures User’s Manual which was effective January 1, 2025. The manual was issued to provide guidance regarding changes to measures that were updated by CMS.

NOTABLE CHANGES TO THE MDS QUALITY MEASURES (QM) USER’S MANUAL V17 Guidance on Selecting MDS Section GG Item Columns for Measure Calculation Guidance on the selection of MDS Section GG item columns (e.g., admission, discharge, OBRA/interim) has been revised to clarify that Section GG item values are determined by the target and/or prior assessment’s qualifying reason for assessment (RFA)1. Additional guidance on which GG item column to select when the target and/or prior assessment has more than one qualifying RFA, is also provided. The updated guidance will not have a significant impact on measure calculations.

Changes in Skin Integrity Post-Acute Care: Pressure Ulcer/Injury (CMS ID: S038.02) (CMS Measures Inventory Tool [CMIT] Measure ID: 121)8 This quality measure is calculated using the SNF Quality Reporting Program measure Changes in Skin Integrity Post-Acute Care: Pressure Ulcer/Injury (CMS ID: S038.02). To review the measure logic specifications for CMS ID: S038.02, please refer to the SNF Quality Reporting Program Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual V6.0 on the SNF QRP website9 under the Downloads section at the bottom of the page. The measure logical specifications can be found in Chapter 8, Table 8-3.

The revised manual can be found at: MDS 3.0 Quality Measures User's Manual v17.0