CMS Resource Available to Help with Annual Facility Assessment (SNF)

CMS’s Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health in Nursing Facilities (COE-NF) created the Behavioral Health Needs Assessment as a resource for your required annual facility-wide assessment. Nursing facilities are required to conduct, document, and annually review a facility-wide assessment, which includes both the resident population and the resources the facility needs to care for residents. The assessment resource was designed to help facilities process strategies to bridge behavioral health gaps.

The Behavioral Health Needs Assessment provides a structured framework to further assess the unique behavioral health needs of the facility identified in the required annual facility-wide assessment. This assessment will help identify training, staffing and resources needed to provide the necessary person-centered care that will promote resident safety and wellbeing.

Current guidance from the CMS State Operations Manual Appendix PP for F-tags 740-745 references assessment of residents’ behavioral health needs as well as staff training and skills within the required annual facility assessment. The Behavioral Health Needs Assessment can assist your teams in both identifying current behavioral health or substance abuse needs and facility supportive services available to meet those needs.