A:
MDS 3.0 is an update of the MDS 2.0 Resident Assessment Instrument. The goal of MDS 3.0 is to introduce advances in assessment measures, increase relevance of items, improve accuracy of the tool, and increase resident's voice by having more resident interview items. CMS wanted to shorten the tool while maintaining ability to use MDS data for quality indicators, quality measures, and payment.
A:
Yes, WinCare is making the necessary changes well in advance of
the October 2010 deadline to ensure our clients have sufficient time to
upgrade and implement the changes needed to be MDS 3.0 compliant. The MDS 3.0 specifications are expected to be finalized in October 2009, once the specification is finalized WinCare will begin coding for the new specification.
Q:What do I need to do to prepare for MDS 3.0? (.NET 2.0 Download)
A:
Before you can upgrade to WinCare Version 7.0 for MDS 3.0 you need to be running the current version of WinCare which is 6.1 Service Release 7.
Service Release 2 released 2/14/10, added the ability to begin recording the MDS 3.0 Race answers for each resident. Hopefully you have completed updating the race for each resident so you are ready for MDS 3.0.
For WinCare's initial release of the MDS 3.0 we will be using the Validation Utility Tool (VUT) provided by QTSO and CMS. More information on the VUT is below: What is the Validation Utility Tool?
Q:I am using MxVision, do I need to upgrade to WinCare to use MDS 3.0?
A:
Yes, MxVision will not work with MDS 3.0. MxVision users will need to upgrade to WinCare before October 2010 in order to use MDS 3.0.
MxVision users need to schedule their upgrade as soon as possible, to lock in a upgrade date prior to the October 2010 deadline.
Q:When MDS 3.0 is released, will I still be able to access my MDS 2.0 assessments?
A:
When WinCare releases MDS 3.0, both MDS 3.0 and MDS 2.0 will CO-EXIST on the same system. There will be a new MDS 3.0 button and the present MDS 2 button will remain. All new assessments for reference dates as of 10/1/2009 or later will need to be created in MDS 3.0. WinCare understands our users need to access older assessments and as such these records will remain available in MDS 2.0 from 10/1/2010 and forward.
Q:What is the Validation Utility Tool? How do I use it?
A:
WinCare is using the MDS 3.0 Validation Utility Tool (VUT) provided by QTSO and CMS to check MDS 3 assessments. This tool can be run on a Windows Server or Workstation. The workstation that is going to be checking the MDS 3.0 assessments will need access to the folders used by the VUT. The VUT is available on the WinCare website: VUT131.exe (updated 4/23/12). Download and then run VUT131.exe to install the VUT. If an older version of the VUT is already installed, install the newer version to the same location.
If you are running Vista or Windows 7 then you cannot use the default install path for the VUT. During the install, the setup program will suggest a destination folder of "C:\Program Files\Validation Utility Tool\", change this to "C:\Validation\", or another location that is not in the "Program Files" path. The VUT must be running in order to "Check" an MDS 3.0 assessment in WinCare. We recommend a sleep interval of .05 (3 seconds), if it is longer than 30 seconds then WinCare will time-out while checking the assessment. Click "Go" to start the utility, in about 60 seconds it will be ready to process assessments. You will need to set the sleep interval every time you start the VUT. Then it can be minimized and let run in the background.
After installing WinCare Version 7 on a workstation that will be completing MDS assessments, go into Utilities, Facility, MDS 3 Options, and set the Input and Result paths to the folders being used by the VUT. Once for each MDS workstation you will need to click the Register MDS 3.0 DLL's button. If you are Vista or Windows 7 then you will need to run WinCare "As Administrator" for the registartion to work correctly. You will also set your RUG settings.
Q:We are getting Timeout error when checking our MDS 3.0 assessments. What could be wrong?
A:
WinCare cannot get a response from the Validation Utility Tool (VUT) to complete the assessment check. Below are possible causes and resolutions from most likely to least likely:
Cause #1: Validation Utility Tool not running
If the Validation Utility Tool is local, double-click the Validation Utility Tool icon on your desktop. Set sleep interval to 0.05 and click GO button. When the VUT status bar says "checking for files" or "Next check at
Q:Where can I print the CAA Triggers, CAA Summary or CAA Rationale Reports?
A:
The triggers can be printed on the CAA Summary report. You can also click "View Triggers" in Section V. The CAA Summary and CAA Rationale Reports are both in the Reports Module. Click Reports then click Individual Reports Tab and in the lower-right hand corner you will see the reports you need CAA Summary and CAA Rationale Reports.
Q:When I do a completeness Check for a MDS 3.0 assessment, the Validation Utility Tool gets a run-time error "Error in FormatCheck". Also WinCare times out during the check. How can I fix this?
A:
Check the Resident's Medicare number on the assessment, this is item # A0600B on the MDS 3.0 assessment. If A0600B is a "N" (without quotes) we know this will cause the error. If there is a no Medicare number for this resident, A0600B needs to be blank.
Q:I am having a problem creating a Entry MDS 3 record, says something about invalid assessment or Completeness check says something's wrong with A0310E
A:
Two things about Entry records. One is that they CANNOT be combined with any other assessment. Second is for an entry record A0310E must ALWAYS be 0, because A0310E is talking about ASSESSMENTS, not TRACKING FORMS, which Entry record is a tracking form. Therefore A0310A should always be 99, A0310B should always be 99 and A0310E should always be 0 when A0310F=1.
Q:I have the VUT version 1.1, checking annual and get message like this: A1600, Difference between A1600 (04/16/2007) and TODAY (3/10/2011) should be no more than 14 days (1424), Value �20070416�, WARNING, ErrID = -38810, Msg#: 1 except that an admit date can be more than 14 days for an annual. What's wrong?
A:
This is a known issue with the version 1.1 of the Validation Utility Tool (VUT). When CMS fixes this WinCare will send an e-mail to our clients. For now, though, click OVERRIDE if this is the only issue preventing closing of the assessment and you won't have any transmission problems from this, as it is erroroneous.
Q:I am getting rejected MDS 3 assessments. The validation reports say something either about X0900E and/or O0450A and/or O0450B
A:
CMS has changed MDS 3 specifications, effective 10/01/2011. In order to transmit, users must use WinCare 7.1 or later. The rejected records can be caused by one of several things:
You are not using 7.1 version of the program or later This can be checked by going to Help > About on the WinCare Control Panel. If it says anything prior to 7.1 you need to upgrade. Check the WinCare Download page. Please note that the Validation Utility Tool also got updated for October 1 changes, it also can be downloaded from the download page.
You have the 7.1 program, but the assessment was made with a version of WinCare prior to that but yet has an October 1st or later Target Date To fix this situation, go to MDS 3 > highlight the assessment/tracking form > click COPY button and click OK > Now the new sections are in the copy. Send the copy and delete the original. New assessments won't have this problem.
You have a discharge assessment where O0450B is enabled and you entered a date. This field should not be enabled for a discharge assessment. This will be fixed in a later service release. In the mean time, please leave O0450B BLANK for discharge assessments - they will still be correctly created in the transmission file if you do that.
Q:How does WinCare handle the new 1.10 (April 1st changes) specifications? Do we need to wait until April 1st to install the Service Release 3? Why I don't see the new changes in my assessments?
A:
You may install WinCare 7.1 Service Release 3 at any time. WinCare will use the target date, which for most MDS records is the ARD (assessment reference date) to determine which specifications to use. In other words, if you create a march assessment, the march assessment specifications will be used. If you create an April 2012 or later assessment, the 1.10 specifications (MDS changes for April 2012) will be used. Note that if you create an april assessment using a version of WinCare prior to 7.1 Service Release 3, then you will need to copy the assessment to make it use the right specifications.
Q:I am getting a message about MSVCR71.DLL when starting the Validation Utility Tool. Is this a problem and if so, how can I fix it?
A:
This is a problem. This is a file the Validation Utility Tool (VUT) uses for processsing. On some systems, this file already exists, but it's not the same one that the VUT uses. So to fix this problem follow these steps:
Go into the validation utility tool directory. To find out where this is, right click the shortcut to the Validation Utility Tool and look at the target. Then browse with windows explorer to that location.
Open the JRE folder then open the BIN folder.
Right click the MSVCR71.DLL. file and click COPY.
Go up two levels directory-wise. This should put you in the same directory as the VUT.EXE. Now right click and click paste. The error about the MSVCR71.DLL will then go away.
