How to Access the Tool
The Expected Discharge Score tool is free and available directly on the Carebility website. No login is required to use the calculator. You can also access the tool directly at https://www.carebility.com/expected-score-explorer.
What Is It?
CMS evaluates SNF quality by comparing each resident's actual discharge GG Mobility score against a risk-adjusted expected score — but most clinicians have no easy way to see what that target is. Without it, you can't know if the care plan is on track, if MDS coding is capturing everything that matters, or how the outcome will affect your quality metrics.
This tool makes the target visible from day one.
How It Works
The tool builds the expected score in three layers:
1. Starting Point — Admission Score & Primary Diagnosis
Enter the resident's GG Mobility admission score and select their primary diagnosis. CMS establishes a baseline predicted discharge score by looking at large groups of residents with similar diagnoses and admission function. This is the foundation of the estimate.
2. Prior Level — Pre-Admission Profile
Select factors describing how the resident functioned before the hospitalization: age, prior self-care, indoor mobility, stair use, functional cognition, prior surgery, and mobility devices (walker, wheelchair, mechanical lift, orthotics). Each factor adjusts the expected score up or down based on what realistic recovery looks like for that starting point.
3. Current Reality — Clinical Factors & Comorbidities
Select active conditions present during the stay: cognitive status (BIMS), communication, continence, pressure ulcers, fall history, feeding tubes, BMI, therapy delivery, and coded comorbidities (HCC categories). These refine the estimate based on what is actually happening clinically.
The tool then displays three numbers:
Admission Score — where the resident starts
Expected Gain — points CMS anticipates they will gain over the stay
Expected Score — the CMS target at discharge
Pre-Built Resident Examples
Not sure where to start? The tool includes four example residents that show how different clinical stories produce very different targets:
Margaret, 72 — Post hip replacement, strong starting point
James, 68 — Stroke, harder recovery path
Ruth, 87 — Debility/cardiorespiratory, multiple stacked constraints
Robert, 76 — Fracture, strong start refined downward
Select any example to see the model in action, or choose Build Your Own to enter a real resident's data.
Common Questions This Tool Helps Answer
What discharge score is CMS expecting for this resident?
Will adding this comorbidity to the MDS actually change the expected score?
Why does this resident have a lower expected gain than a similar one?
Are we at risk of falling below the expected score for this admission?
Does our therapy plan reflect the realistic recovery potential CMS is modeling?
📄 Source: SNF QRP Measure Calculations & Reporting User's Manual V5.0, Table RA-9, Update ID 3. Coefficient values are rounded to four decimal places per CMS specification.
🔒 For educational and planning purposes. This tool does not submit or affect MDS data directly.