MDS Coordinator Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Hire an MDS Coordinator who can connect daily documentation, assessment timing, and defensible case-mix results.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
- MDS Nurse
- RN Assessment Coordinator
- Reimbursement Coordinator
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
An MDS Coordinator reviews records, asks clinicians for missing facts, codes assessments, and submits work that supports your reimbursement process. A missed Section GG detail or unsupported item can create rework, payment questions, or survey exposure. We help you assess how a candidate handles those decisions before you interview.
This role needs more than a nurse who knows the floor. Your coordinator must read nursing and therapy notes, identify conflicts, ask for clarification, and determine whether the record supports the item being coded.
A strong candidate can explain what happens when therapy documentation differs from nursing documentation, when a late entry changes the record, or when an assessment date is approaching with unanswered questions. We ask for specific examples of their review process, not broad claims about being detail-oriented.
What do we check before you see anyone?
RAC-CT status and MDS training. We verify RAC-CT certification when the candidate holds it and ask how they keep current with AAPACN guidance. RAC-CT may be a preference for your search, not a universal legal condition for the role. PDPM and Section GG coding.
- We ask candidates to describe how they review supporting notes before coding Section GG and what they do when mobility, self-care, or restorative nursing documentation does not match the proposed response.
- Case-mix results. We discuss how the candidate reviews assessment outcomes, looks for unexpected changes, and separates a documentation gap from a resident change. They should explain what they would bring back to the interdisciplinary team.
- Assessment scheduling and submission. We ask how they track due dates, manage competing assessments, and document their follow-up when information arrives late. A quick answer matters less than a clear, repeatable method.
- Interdisciplinary follow-up. We ask how they obtain usable input from nursing, therapy, and other contributors when notes are vague or conflicting. The candidate should be able to name the question they ask and the record they review next.
- Audit and record review. We ask about responding to survey questions or audit requests, including how they locate source documentation and organize the assessment file. We also discuss their comfort auditing records in your electronic health record system before submission.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We recruit MDS coordinators from other skilled nursing facilities and from regional MDS consultant backgrounds. A coordinator in a building may be ready to move for a clearer division of duties, a more stable interdisciplinary team, a different schedule, or a role with greater ownership of assessment review.
Consultant backgrounds can bring broad exposure to coding questions and varied documentation practices. You should still test whether the candidate wants to own the daily follow-up, assessment calendar, and staff conversations that come with one facility-based role.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is hiring a strong floor nurse without asking how they resolve a Section GG conflict between therapy and nursing notes. Another is treating RAC-CT as proof that a candidate can manage your daily assessment calendar and documentation follow-up.
Waiting until the final interview to explain who supplies documentation, who reviews it, and who answers coding questions.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us which assessments the coordinator will own, who supports data collection, and whether the role needs an RN license under your facility and state scope. We screen candidates on PDPM, Section GG, case-mix review, audit preparation, and interdisciplinary follow-up.
Set the role scope
We use that information to screen work history and credentials.
Review the evidence
You decide whether their clinical judgment and working style fit your team.
Choose and hire
We present qualified permanent-placement candidates and coordinate interviews around the questions that matter to your building. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire under the written agreement.
Where this search connects
Post-Acute, Senior Living & Home-Based Care Leadership
SpecialtySkilled Nursing & Post-Acute Care
SettingSenior Living (Assisted Living, Memory Care, CCRC)
SettingHome Health & Hospice
SettingPE-Backed Healthcare Platforms
SettingNursing Home Administrator (NHA)
Related roleAssistant Director of Nursing (ADON)
Related roleRegional Nurse Consultant
Related roleRegional Director of Operations (Post-Acute & Senior Living)
Related roleNational median annual wage. SOC 29-1141, Registered Nurses.
BLS reports Registered Nurses as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for MDS Coordinator, its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
Open roles
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Do all MDS Coordinators need RAC-CT certification?
No: RAC-CT is a useful credential and a stated preference for many employers, but it is not a universal legal mandate. We verify it when listed and screen for actual MDS, PDPM, and Section GG experience either way. They also need enough judgment to challenge incomplete documentation without turning every request into a dispute.
Should we require an RN license?
That depends on your facility’s role design, state scope rules, and assigned duties. Tell us whether an RN license is required for your opening. You complete your own credentialing and clinical assessment before hiring.
How do you test Section GG knowledge without asking for protected records?
We use hypothetical documentation conflicts and ask what source notes the candidate would review. For example, we may ask how they would address different nursing and therapy descriptions before coding an item.
Can you recruit someone from a regional MDS consultant background?
Yes: we will ask whether the candidate wants a facility-based position and can manage daily follow-up with your staff. Consulting exposure alone does not answer that question.
What if we need temporary MDS coverage first?
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Tell us where your assessment process breaks down, from source notes to final submission. We will screen for the MDS Coordinator who can address that work in your facility.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) · Regional Nurse Consultant
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.