August 13, 2018

Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) requires states to employ or contract with behavioral health care professionals to conduct assessments across a state, which may include assessments for individuals in remote locations, and requirements for assessments to be done within a relatively short time frame. In addition, the growing shortage of skilled behavioral health care professionals needed to conduct assessments may magnify barriers to PASRR compliance. Many of the barriers that people face when seeking in-person health care—including time, transportation, affordability issues and access to the appropriate health care provider—can be mitigated by using telehealth.

The use of telehealth in PASRR is explored in a white paper recently completed by CMS’s PASRR Contractor. A few highlights of what the paper covers include:

• the definition of telehealth compared to telemedicine;
• modalities for telehealth;
• federal policies governing telehealth; and
• suggested applications of telehealth for PASRR.

This new resource for state PASRR programs is now available at the bottom of this page.