2.1 Introduction to the Requirements for the RAI

The OBRA regulations require nursing homes that are Medicare certified, Medicaid certified or both, to conduct initial and periodic assessments for all their residents. The Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) process is the basis for the accurate assessment of each resident. The MDS 3.0 is part of that assessment process and is required by CMS. The OBRA-required assessments will be described in detail in Section 2.6.

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