GG0130 and GG0170: Coding Self-Care and Mobility in OASIS-E2

Part of the OASIS-E2 Item Guide. Source: CMS OASIS-E2 Guidance Manual, Chapter 3 Section GG, Appendix B, and Appendix D. This page paraphrases the manual. The manual governs.

The 6-Point Scale

Activity-Not-Attempted Codes: 07, 09, 10, 88

Use these only after you determine the activity was not completed and you cannot set a performance code from patient or caregiver report, collaboration with other agency staff, or similar activities.

• 07 Patient refused: the patient refused and no other code applies.
• 09 Not applicable: not attempted, and the patient did not do this activity before the current illness, exacerbation, or injury.
• 10 Environmental limitations: not attempted because of the setting, such as missing equipment or weather.
• 88 Medical condition or safety concerns: not attempted for medical or safety reasons, and the patient did the activity before the current illness, exacerbation, or injury.

The 09 vs 88 split turns on prior function. GG0130A Eating shows it well. A patient on new tube feeding after a recent stroke is an 88. A patient who did not eat by mouth before this illness is a 09. A dash means no information, and CMS expects dashes to be rare.

Watch the skip patterns. At SOC/ROC, a 07, 09, 10, or 88 on GG0170I Walk 10 feet skips to GG0170M 1 step. The same codes on GG0170M or GG0170N skip to GG0170P Picking up object. A "No" on GG0170Q wheelchair use skips the wheel items.

Activities and Time Points

Every activity is coded at SOC, ROC, and Discharge. Follow-up collects a subset.

Usual Performance and the Assessment Window

Usual performance means the patient's ability more than 50% of the time during the look-back period. For most items the look-back is the day of assessment: the 24 hours before the visit plus the visit itself.

• SOC/ROC: code the baseline, before the benefit of your agency's services. Have the patient try the activity before any teaching raises the score.
• Follow-up: base the code on a functional assessment inside the recertification or other follow-up window.
• Discharge: base the code on a functional assessment at or near discharge.

The windows: SOC within 5 calendar days after the SOC date, ROC within 2 calendar days, recertification in the last 5 days of each 60-day period, other follow-up within 2 days of the significant change, and discharge within 2 days of the discharge date.

SOC/ROC Performance vs Discharge Goal

Older training material tells clinicians to code an admission performance and a discharge goal for each activity. CMS dropped the goal with OASIS-E1. Appendix D of the E2 manual records the change: CMS removed the Discharge Goals from GG0130 and GG0170 effective January 1, 2025, because it removed the related care-plan quality measure. The OASIS-E2 boxes now hold three columns:

• Column 1: SOC/ROC Performance
• Column 4: Follow-up Performance
• Column 3: Discharge Performance

Your clinicians still set functional goals in care planning. The OASIS no longer records them. Remove goal fields from EMR templates and QA checklists still built on OASIS-E.

Coding Rules QA Reviewers Check

• Code the need, not the availability. Code the help required to finish safely, whether or not a helper is in the home.
• Assessor presence is not supervision. New in OASIS-E2: being in the room to complete the assessment does not make the code a 04.
• Asking is not cueing. Stating the request, such as "Can you stand up?", is not verbal cueing. Extra safety prompts call for clinical judgment.
• Code the entire activity. If the patient transfers to the chair in the morning and back at night, code the help for the whole transfer.
• Assess activities the patient does not routinely do. Walking is assessed for a wheelchair user, and stairs for a patient who avoids them.
• Ramps and elevators are not steps. E2 coding tips say neither substitutes for GG0170M, N, or O.
• Unsafe or poor-quality performance gets scored by the help needed. A patient who completes the task unsafely is not independent.

Common Errors

• Coding 88 or 09 when report or similar activities would support a performance code.
• Swapping 09 and 88 without checking prior function.
• Coding SOC performance after a teaching session, which inflates the baseline.
• Treating a second helper on stand-by as a 02 instead of a 01.
• Counting the tub transfer in GG0130E Shower/bathe self. The activity excludes it, and excludes washing the back and hair.
• Leaving discharge goal fields in templates built for OASIS-E.

Section GG and the M1800-M1860 Items

GG items do not earn PDGM functional points. The CY 2026 Home Health PPS final rule bases the functional impairment level on M1800-M1860 and M1033. Appendix B lists GG uses as quality measures and risk adjustment, and marks several activities, such as GG0170C, D, E, F, I, and J, for HHVBP. GG codes and M18xx codes use different scales and task definitions, so they will not match one to one. They should still describe the same patient.

Where Documentation Goes Wrong

GG errors tend to hide in the gap between what the clinician observed and the code chosen. Lime's OASIS Scribe drafts GG responses from the visit conversation and flags inconsistencies, such as a not-attempted code next to a narrative describing the activity, so your QA team corrects them. The assessing clinician confirms every final code.

CMS Sources

• OASIS-E2 Guidance Manual (PDF): Section GG, Appendix B time points, Appendix D change log.
• CMS OASIS User Manuals page and the OASIS Q&As.
• CY 2026 Home Health PPS final rule: PDGM functional items.

Related Item Guides

• OASIS-E2 Item Guide (all items)
• M1800-M1860: ADL Items
• M1021 and M1023: Diagnosis Coding
• M2020: Management of Oral Medications
• M1311: Pressure Ulcers/Injuries