Minimum Data Set (MDS)

MDS 3.0 for Nursing Facilities in Maine

The MDS is a powerful tool for implementing standardized assessment and for facilitating care management in nursing homes (NHs) and non-critical access hospital swing beds (SBs). Its content has implications for residents, families, providers, researchers, and policymakers...

MDS 3.0 has been designed to improve the reliability, accuracy, and usefulness of the MDS, to include the resident in the assessment process, and to use standard protocols used in other settings. These improvements have profound implications for NH and SB care and public policy. Enhanced accuracy supports the primary legislative intent that MDS be a tool to improve clinical assessment and supports the credibility of programs that rely on MDS. Excerpted from CMS website

Maine Resources

  • DLRS Training Portal (includes MDS 3.0 training materials)
  • Maine Section Q Contacts - The Local Contact Agency for residents who wish to find out about resources in the community is the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.  For more information or assistance call 1-800-499-0229.
  • Section S for Maine - The state of Maine will be including a section S on the MDS 3.0. Section S will be required on all assessment types.
  • RUG groups for MaineCare - The state of Maine uses RUG III group calculations to determine payment for MaineCare. The 5.20, 44-group calculator is used. There is a Maine-specific add-on for residents with traumatic brain injury (add-on logic). If you have any questions about the RUG III implementation for MDS 3.0 in Maine, please send e-mail to MDS3.0.DHHS@maine.gov.
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ( Word* also in PDF*)
  • Contacts for MDS 3.0 in Maine