Complete an OASIS assessment

Fill in an OASIS-E2 or E1 assessment from the keyboard, clear the CMS edit checks, send it for review and sign it.

5 stepsUpdated for AveeCare
In this guide
Answer each itemUse last time's answer and the CMS guidanceClear the CMS editsSign and complete, or send for reviewKeep working through a dropped connection

This is the clinician's part of OASIS: answering the items, fixing anything iQIES would reject, and signing. It works the same at every timepoint, on OASIS-E2 and OASIS-E1.

Quick answer

Open the assessment from the OASIS page and work through the section tabs. Clear every issue the CMS edits flag, then press Complete (or Send for review if your agency uses review) and sign.

Open OASIS

1. Answer each item

Open OASIS

  1. Open the assessment and pick a section tab.

    The tabs across the top are the OASIS sections. Answers save as you go. Identity details such as name, birth date and Medicare number already come from the patient's record, and the agency details come from your settings when the file is built.

  2. Answer from the keyboard.

    Click or Tab to an item and type its answer code to answer it and move on. Enter goes to the next item, Alt+N jumps to the next unanswered one, and Alt+Left and Alt+Right change section. The Next unanswered button does the same as Alt+N.
    An OASIS-E2 recertification on section A with the Next unanswered button and the keyboard shortcuts line outlined above item M0080

2. Use last time's answer and the CMS guidance

  1. Read the Last time line under an item.

    It shows the answer from the patient's previous completed assessment and when it was given. Click same as last time to copy that one answer. Nothing is filled in unless you click it.

  2. Press Guidance on an item to open CMS guidance.

    The drawer shows CMS's guidance for that item: the item intent, response-specific instructions and coding instructions, and the timepoints it is collected at.
    The CMS guidance drawer for M1306 unhealed pressure ulcer or injury at stage 2 or higher, showing item intent and response-specific instructions, with the Last time answer from the start of care and a same as last time link on the form behind it

3. Clear the CMS edits

  1. Work the issues list until nothing fatal is left.

    AveeCare runs the CMS edits as you answer. Each issue names its CMS edit number with CMS's wording and a plain explanation, and has a link that jumps to the item. The section tabs count what is left in each section.

  2. Check the M0090 date before you finish.

    The date decides the form. Moving it across April 1, 2026 switches the assessment between OASIS-E2 and OASIS-E1. iQIES accepts OASIS-E1 files only through December 31, 2026, and the form shows a reminder.

4. Sign and complete, or send for review

  1. Press Complete and sign.

    Read the attestation, then draw or type your signature and press Sign and complete. The signature, the time and the exact attestation text are kept with the assessment, and it locks.

  2. If your agency uses review, press Send for review instead.

    The account owner turns on Require a second clinician to review each assessment in Settings. You sign with Sign and send for review. The reviewer comments on any item and presses Return for changes, or presses Approve to complete and lock it. You resolve each comment, sign again and resend.
    A recertification waiting for review, with the outlined banner saying who sent it and when, and a reviewer comment on M1860, beside the Return for changes and Approve buttons

5. Keep working through a dropped connection

  1. Keep charting if the connection drops.

    Answers that have not been sent are kept on the device, encrypted, and sent when the connection returns.

  2. Choose which answer wins if someone else changed it.

    If another person changed the same answer while yours were waiting, AveeCare lists each one with the saved value and yours. Press Use my answers or Keep the saved answers.

Common pitfalls

  • Editing a completed assessment. It is locked. Create a correction from the assessment list instead; it starts as a new draft linked to the original.
  • Reviewing your own assessment. AveeCare will not let the clinician who wrote it, or the person who sent it, approve it. Ask a colleague.
  • Returning without a comment. Return for changes needs at least one open comment, so the clinician knows what to fix.
  • Closing the browser while offline. Name, birth date, sex and ID numbers are not stored on the device. Check them again if the browser closed before the connection came back.
  • Treating the payment preview as a target. It is an estimate shown for information. Answer every item from your assessment.

Frequently asked questions

No. It copies one item, and only when you click it. Nothing on the form fills an answer on its own.
From the CMS OASIS Guidance Manual for the form you are on, OASIS-E2 or OASIS-E1. It opens in a drawer beside the item.
At least one fatal CMS edit is still open. The section tabs show how many are left in each section, and each issue has a link that jumps to its item.
When the account owner turns on review, anyone on the team except the clinician who wrote the assessment, and except the person who sent it for review.
It is cleared, because it covered answers that are about to change. Resolve the comments, sign again and send it back.
Your answers are kept on the device, encrypted, and sent when the connection returns. If someone else changed the same answer meanwhile, you choose Use my answers or Keep the saved answers.
Yes. PDF downloads a chart copy at any stage. Drafts print with a working-draft banner so they cannot be mistaken for a completed assessment.

Keep going

Set up AveeCare for OASIS submission

Enter your CMS certification number, branch, NPI and state in the OASIS setup checklist, or start an OASIS-submission-only workspace.

Export OASIS to iQIES and import the Final Validation Report

Build iQIES-ready batch files, upload them to iQIES yourself, then import the Final Validation Report to see what was accepted and fix rejections.

OASIS deadlines, episodes and estimates

See when each OASIS is due, start recertifications from the episode timeline, and read the payment group, plan-of-care draft and outcome estimates.

Written by
Calvin Nesvig
Founding Partner, AveeCare

Builds AveeCare full-time. The AveeCare Help Center is written and maintained by the team that builds the product, so the steps in every article come from the same people who ship the features.

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