OASIS RFA Picker
Answer a few clinical questions. We tell you which RFA code applies — with the M0090 rule and transmission deadline.
What's happening with the patient?
What this tool answers
Every OASIS assessment carries a Reason for Assessment code that says why it was collected. Choose the wrong one and the record is rejected at submission or, worse, accepted against the wrong timepoint and quietly counted against the agency. This picker asks a few plain questions about what is actually happening with the patient and returns the right RFA code, when the assessment has to be completed, and when it has to be transmitted.
How to read the result
- The RFA code
- A two-digit code identifying the timepoint: 01 Start of Care, 03 Resumption of Care, 04 Recertification, 05 Other Follow-Up, 06 Transfer without discharge, 07 Transfer with discharge, 09 Discharge from agency.
- The completion rule
- How long you have to complete the assessment, and what the clock runs from. Start of Care allows 5 days after the SOC date. Recertification must be completed in the last 5 days of the current 60-day certification period, days 56 through 60. Resumption of Care, transfers, discharge and other follow-up all run on 2 calendar days from their triggering event.
- The transmission deadline
- Completing the assessment is not the end of the obligation. Every RFA carries a submission deadline measured from the completion date recorded in M0090.
Common questions
What triggers a Resumption of Care rather than a new Start of Care?
A patient returning from a qualifying inpatient stay resumes care under RFA 03, completed within 2 calendar days of their return. A new Start of Care under RFA 01 applies when the patient is being admitted rather than returning to an episode that was interrupted.
What is the difference between RFA 06 and RFA 07?
Both cover a transfer to an inpatient facility, and both are completed within 2 calendar days of learning of the transfer. RFA 06 is used when the patient is not discharged from your agency, so the episode remains open. RFA 07 is used when the transfer discharges them from your agency.
When exactly does the recertification window open?
Day 56 of the current 60-day certification period. The recertification assessment must be completed within days 56 to 60 — completing it early is as much a problem as completing it late, because the assessment is meant to describe the patient at the end of the period.
What is RFA 05 for?
Other Follow-Up, used when a major decline or improvement in the patient triggers a reassessment outside the normal timepoints. It is completed within 2 calendar days of that change.
Where this comes from
- OASIS-E2 Guidance Manual — item-by-item guidance, timepoints and completion windows
- OASIS Data Sets & Instruments
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