RUG-III Analyzer Overview

No, it is not. RUG-III Analyzer supplements your current MDS software by providing information most current MDS software neglects to provide:

• The Medicaid and/or Medicare RUG scores
• The MDS fields which generated these RUG-III scores
• Possible scenarios which could result in increased CMI for that assessment

There are three steps to using RUG-III Analyzer.

1. Setting it up to classify assessments properly according to your state's Case Mix index values and/or the PPS Grouper appropriate to your facility and to print out optional alert messages at the level appropriate for your facility. At the most basic level, this means selecting your state from a pull-down menu on the Setup form and knowing if your facility is Urban or Rural. Customizing it from the default settings should be done by someone who has read the User Manual or spoken with technical support.

2. Generating the MDS submission files and creating RUG-III Analyzer reports from these submission files. The most basic way to use the software would be to use it when your facility is ready to submit assessments to the state. Before connecting to the AT&T Global Network and transmitting, have the person who does the transmissions at your facility "transmit" using RUG-III Analyzer. More advanced users will want to generate the RUG-III Analyzer reports at different times, perhaps by using their MDS software vendors' exporting utilities. See the Power Tips section in the User Manual.

3. Reading the reports. RUG Tools, LLC has relied on nurses who work closely in the training of MDS nurses in order to make the reports as simple to read as possible. From the Setup form, the user can remove from the report discharges, reentries and inactivations. The user can also sort the assessments on the report by potential CMI increase or by RUG-III category. For the Medicare/PPS report, non-Medicare assessments can be omitted.

Some do, many don't. Ayman Fadel, the owner of RUG Tools, LLC, worked for over six years answering calls from MDS coordinators in the state of Indiana , from 1998-2004. His experience answering these questions suggested that many MDS coordinators are too new in their positions or too overwhelmed with other duties at the facility to learn the RUG-III system. In addition, neither the CMS Final Validation report nor the state Medicaid contractor's CMI reports provide enough timely information for the MDS coordinator to use to improve the facility CMI. Also, emphasis across the board is placed on the Medicare residents and the higher CMI classifications such as Extensive Services and Special Care. For many facilities, focusing on capturing the ADL performance and assistance and recording resident cognitive skills, behaviors and mood indicators will increase the CMI for the 70% or more of the residents who are in the Reduced Physical Function, Behavior Problems, Impaired Cognition and Clinically Complex categories.

Lastly, a facility which has an experienced, committed MDS coordinator today might not have one tomorrow. RUG-III Analyzer is a great training tool for the backup person and it would greatly assist an incoming MDS coordinator.

The bottom line is that there is no simple way to ensure that the assessment process captures all the services your facility is providing your residents, and RUG-III Analyzer is not a magic bullet. Moreover, an improved assessment process may result in a decrease in your facility CMI, if you discover that your facility has been improperly coding certain answers.

With those qualifications, the report RUG-III Analyzer genrates provides the MDS coordinator with immediate feedback. This helps detect software errors in the creation of the submission report. This helps detect data entry errors in the creation of the assessment. The report highlights elements on the MDS which the MDS coordinator may choose to review with appropriate facility personnel to make sure services were recorded accurately. When the facility waits two to four months for a quarterly CMI report before reviewing its assessments, it is extremely difficult to do anything about it at that point. Open Sample RUG-III Analyzer Report (CMS Sample Data, 11 assessments, sorted in RUG-III Category Order from Extensive Services to Reduced Physical Function).

RUG-III Analyzer is another arrow in your quiver, which may include corporate and outside consultants, other software, etc.

RUG Tools, LLC suggests taking advantage of the month-long free trial period and seeing what its reports can reveal about your facility's assessment process.

How does the installation of RUG-III Analyzer affect my current configuration of hardware and software?

RUG-III Analyzer was written with Microsoft VB .NET. The only software a PC needs for it to run is Microsoft .NET Framework. When you install RUG-III Analyzer, it checks for the .NET Framework, and if it is not installed, it installs the .NET Framework.

In most cases, RUG-III Analyzer should be installed on the same PC your MDS coordinator uses to transmit the submission files to the state CMS server. If the facility has a computer network, the software can be installed on any PC which has access to the MDS submission files. Alternatively, the facility can copy the submission files to a CD-ROM or removable disk and give it to the person using RUG-III Analyzer at a remote location.

RUG-III Analzyer reads the submission files created by your MDS software. It does not access your MDS software's database. It makes copies of these submission files and updates an .mdb (MS Access format database) located in a folder created on the PC's local hard drive. It neither accesses the facility's Local Area Network nor the Internet nor the AT&T Global Network.

The submission report files are written to a folder on the local hard drive. These files are in HTML format. RUG-III Analyzer uses the default browser on the PC, be it Internet Explorer, Netscape or any other, to view and print the reports.

Since its "imprint" is so light, RUG Tools, LLC does not anticipate any conflicts with existing systems, unless the PC is configured not to allow creation of new folders and files on the local hard drive and not to accept installation of new software. Contact Support at support@rugtools.com if you have further technical questions.

A good rule of thumb is that a one one-hundreth (0.01) of a CMI point increase for Medicaid results in a $.50 increase in the Medicaid per diem rate. Using this heuristic, a 100-bed facility with a 60% Medicaid utilization rate would see a $900/month increase in revenue for each one-hundreth of a point increase in its Medicaid CMI. (100 beds * 30 days/month * 60% Medicaid Utilization * $0.50/day).

Contact Sales at info@rugtools.com for an estimate based specifically on your facility's cost report and your state's regulations.

This depends on your facility's size and your facility's resident mix. RUG Tools, LLC has developed a simple-to-use "What-If" analysis to project specifically for your facility what it would take to achieve a CMI increase. Contact Sales at info@rugtools.com for a free consultation.

The reports contain resident confidential data such as name, birthdate and SSN. The data is stored on the PC where the software is installed. Access to this PC should be protected. The facility should already be protecting access to this PC because the MDS submission files contain this same confidential data.

Backup copies of the data and printed copies of the reports must also be protected.

RUG-III Analyzer's report highlights which fields must be supported with documentation, thus assisting the MDS coordinator in preparing for state MDS documentation reviews.