OASIS E2 Changes Effective April 1, 2026

1. New Items Added at the Resumption of Care (ROC) Time Point

CMS is expanding several sensory and communication items to the ROC assessment to improve risk adjustment and accurately capture changes in patient status:

  • A1110 – Language added to ROC.

  • B0200 – Vision added to ROC.

  • B1000 – Hearing added to ROC.

These additions help reflect changes that commonly occur between care episodes and improve value based purchasing accuracy.

________________________________________

2. Major Item Removals (Streamlining & Reducing Clinician Burden)

a. COVID 19 Vaccination Item Retired

  • O0350 – Patient’s COVID 19 vaccination is up to date is fully removed from all-time points (Transfer, Discharge, Death at Home), RFA.

CMS retired this item because of frequent CDC guidance changes and limited long term utility.

b. Transportation Question Modified / Replaced

  • A1250 – Transportation is removed, replaced with the new, more detailed:

    • A1255 – Transportation (updated wording and response structure).

    • A1250 removed across SOC, ROC, and DC.

    • A1255 added to SOC and ROC.

c. SDOH Items Removed Before Implementation

  • CMS removed several Social Determinants of Health items finalized in 2025, including those related to living situation, food, and utilities, to reduce documentation burden.

________________________________________

3. Revised / Replaced Items

a. Gender Item Replaced

  • M0069 – Gender removed.

  • A0810 – Sex added as the standardized replacement (male/female), aligning with other post acute care settings and Medicare administrative data.

________________________________________

4. Additional Cross Setting & Compliance Refinements

These updates support CMS’s broader effort to align home health data standards with SNFs, IRFs, and LTCHs:

  • Improved consistency in sensory assessments (hearing, vision, language) across settings.

  • ROC-focused updates ensure patient acuity and risk factors are accurately captured during episodic

HeathCare Strategies, Inc.

Software ~ Outsourcing ~ Consulting

Based in Chattanooga, TN, HealthCare Strategies (HCS) was founded in 1998 with the belief that high-quality software, consulting and outsourcing services could be provided within the budgetary constraints of most home health and hospice agencies. HCS provides a wide range of products and services to our partner-clients across the United States. Ask about our EMR software platform, HCS Connect™ today!

“Bridging the Gap in Healthcare”

877-296-0074

Becky Crabtree