OASIS · CMS Q&As
M1046: CMS OASIS Q&As
5 questions CMS has answered, quoted whole from the CMS OASIS Q&As.
M1046. What is the appropriate response for M1046 - Influenza Vaccine Received, in a case where the patient states his physician told him not to get the vaccine during the 6 week period post joint replacement surgery? Joint replacement surgery is not listed at the CDC website as a medical contraindication for administration of the influenza vaccine.
If the assessing clinician confirmed the fact that the physician medically restricted the patient from receiving the vaccine for any reason, the appropriate response for M1046 Influenza Vaccine Received would be response 5 - No; patient assessed and determined to have medical contraindication(s).
[Q&A EDITED 05/22; EDITED & M number updated 06/14; ADDED 01/12; Previously CMS OCCB Q&A 01/11 Q5]
M1046. Does the March 31 date serve as an official "end date" when determining current flu season? When answering M1046 at Transfer/Discharge, is there a point in time that we move from "this year's" flu season to the next year's flu season as we consider the period of time following SOC/ROC? How would we score M1046 – Influenza Vaccine Received in the following situations? a. Patient has a SOC date of September 1, 2021 and receives the influenza vaccine from the home health agency on April 15, 2022 and is discharged from the agency the June 15, 2022. b. Patient has a SOC date September 1, 2021, the vaccine was given September 15, 2021, and the patient was discharged on October 1, 2022 (the following year), and the flu vaccine for the 2022/2023 flu season is already available.
The current flu season is established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Each year, flu vaccine manufacturers only release the vaccine per CDC recommendations. Therefore, when the flu vaccine is available for administration in late summer or early fall, it signals the beginning of the current flu season. The end of the flu season is generally considered March 31st. a. If the patient was on service during the October 1 through March 31 data collection timeframe and the flu vaccine was given by the agency after the typical end of flu season, March 31st, M1046 would be answered "1-Yes; received from your agency during this episode of care (SOC/ROC to Transfer/Discharge)”. b. If a patient's quality episode overlaps more than one influenza season, M1046 should be answered based on whether or not the patient received the influenza vaccine for the current flu season.
- • •If patient received the flu vaccine for the flu season that was current at the time of discharge, in this case, the one for the 2022/2023 flu season one of the “Yes” responses would be appropriate. If the patient received the vaccine for the past flu season (2021/2022), but not for the current flu season (2022/2023), one of "No" responses would be appropriate.
[Q&A EDITED 05/22; ADDED, EDITED & M number updated 06/14; Previously CMS Qtrly Q&A 01/13 Q6]
M1046. Due to state law and/or agency policies, some home health staff may not be allowed to transport meds (including vaccines)? Patient and/or the family members might need to pick the vaccine up for the agency to administer. How would the agency get credit for this process measure?
The process measure describing the best practice gives credit not only when the agency provides the immunization (regardless of who transports the vaccine to the patient’s home), but the agency also may get credit by facilitating the patient’s receipt of the immunization through other health care providers. This facilitation will be represented in M1046 - Influenza Vaccine Received, and computation of this related process measure will rely on both M1041 - Influenza Vaccine Data Collection Period and M1046 - Influenza Vaccine Received.
[Q&A EDITED AND outdated items removed 05/22; EDITED AND M number updated 06/14; ADDED 01/11; Previously CMS OCCB Q&A 01/10 Q5]
M1046. When the patient and caregiver cannot remember if the flu vaccination had been received, what response should be selected for M1046 - Influenza Vaccine Received?
OASIS data are collected using a variety of strategies, including observation, interview, review of pertinent documentation (for example, hospital discharge summaries), discussions with other care team members where relevant (for example, phone calls to the physician to verify diagnoses), and measurement (for example, presence of anxiety). In the scenario provided, the patient and caregiver do not remember if the patient received the vaccination, the assessing clinician should employ other assessment strategies to obtain the needed information, such as, review of the medical record for history and physical information and communication with the physician. If the assessing clinician is unable to determine whether the patient received the influenza vaccination, report Response 8 - No, patient did not receive the vaccine due to reasons other than those listed in Responses 4-7 for M1046 Influenza Vaccine Received.
[Q&A EDITED AND outdated items removed 05/22; ADDED 04/15; Previously CMS Qtrly Q&A 01/15 Q5]
M1046. If your agency does not immunize patients, how would you answer M1046 - Influenza Vaccine Received? What if another provider offered and the patient refused, could we select Response 4 - Patient offered and declined?
It is not required that the agency offer to administer the flu vaccine in order to select 4 Patient offered and declined, only that the patient was offered the vaccine by any healthcare provider, and they refused.
[Q&A EDITED 05/22; ADDED, EDITED & M number updated 06/14; Previously CMS Qtrly Q&A 07/13 Q5]
Source: CMS OASIS Q&As: Category 4 - OASIS Data Set: Forms and Items (March 2026), text extracted from the PDF with pdftotext, retrieved 2026-10-09. Works of the US Government are in the public domain.
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