Information for Health Care Providers-
Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS)

OASIS is a key component of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) partnership with the home care industry to foster and monitor improved home health care outcomes. It is also proposed to become an integral part of the revised Conditions of Participation for Medicare-certified home health agencies (HHAs).

The Outcome and Assessment Information Set-C (OASIS-C) is a group of data elements that:

Represent core items of a comprehensive assessment for an adult home care patient; and
Form the basis for measuring patient outcomes for the purposes of outcome-based quality improvement (OBQI)

About the L&C Federal Systems Support Unit (FSSU)

The L&C FSSU maintain and support numerous federally mandated systems associated with skilled nursing facilities, swing-bed hospitals and home health agencies. Among these systems are MDS (Minimum Data Set), SB-MDS (Swing-Bed MDS) and OASIS. Through partnerships with health care providers and their respective membership associations, FSSU provides training pertinent to the federal data collection systems as well as operate and maintain a full-time helpdesk, providing technical and clinical support regarding the collecting, encoding and transmitting of patient data.

CMS OASIS Links

CMS Home Health Agency Center

CMS web page with information specific to Home Health Agencies.

CMS OASIS Overview

CMS OASIS-C Information & Guidance Manual

OASIS-C is the updated version of the OASIS data set that must be used for all assessments of Medicare and Medicaid patients that are completed on or after January 1, 2010. The OASIS-C Guidance manual (September, 2009) is a streamlined and updated version of the original OASIS Implementation Manual. It provides:

Specific item-by-item information on completion of each OASIS-C item
General information relevant to OASIS data collection versions of OASIS-C for each OASIS data collection time point
Sample pages of clinical record forms for OASIS data time points illustrating how the relevant OASIS items can be integrated
Relevant resources for HHAs, with hyperlinks when available
Information on OBQI
Home health care regulations related to OASIS data collection, and
Recommendations for ensuring accuracy of OASIS data.

CMS - QIES to Success

CMS hosted web application: "To find information in a quick and efficient manner, visit the QIES to Success pages anytime you need to find information on CASPER, MDS, OASIS, RAVEN, HAVEN, and ASPEN, to name a few."

Assistance at CDPH

Email the CDPH Helpdesk: mdsoasis@cdph.ca.gov