title: Designing the national resident assessment instrument for nursing homes.
abstract: In response to the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 mandate for the development of a national resident assessment system for nursing facilities, a consortium of professionals developed the first major component of this system, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) for Resident Assessment and Care Screening. A two-state field trial tested the reliability of individual assessment items, the overall performance of the instrument, and the time involved in its application. The trial demonstrated reasonable reliability for 55% of the items and pinpointed redundancy of items and initial design of scales. On the basis of these analyses and clinical input, 40% of the original items were kept, 20% dropped, and 40% altered. The MDS provides a structure and language in which to understand long-term care, design care plans, evaluate quality, and describe the nursing facility population for planning and policy efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Gerontological Research, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, Boston, MA 02131.
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hawes
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Fries
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Drugovich
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Friedlob
mesh_terms: D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States