To the Editor: I've always giggled to myself at the actual name of this ridiculous misnomer of an acronym: In whose world would the length, breadth, and scope of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) be considered "minimal"?! Surely not even the most obsessive IRS bean counter would call this formerly 24-page (now 38-page!) small-print document "minimal" with a straight face. In any event, most of us who spend any appreciable portion of our time in skilled nursing facilities remember vividly the panic and grumbling that accompanied the anticipated rollout of MDS 3.0 just a couple of short years back: It's so complicated! It will require such extensive training for staff! It will take so long to administer! How will we possibly be able to do it for all of our residents? Are we going to need to hire another nurse to help get all the MDSs completed? 38 pages??!! Really?! What is CMS thinking? They don't think we do enough paperwork already?
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