42 CFR 484.55 — Condition of Participation: Comprehensive Assessment of Patients

What this rule requires your agency to do

• 1The comprehensive assessment must accurately reflect the patient's status and include, at a minimum: current health, psychosocial, functional, and cognitive status; strengths, goals, and care preferences; continuing need for home care; medical, nursing, rehabilitative, social, and discharge-planning needs; a review of all current medications to identify adverse effects, drug reactions, ineffective therapy, significant side effects/interactions, duplicate therapy, and noncompliance; primary caregiver(s) and supports; the patient's representative (if any); and the current OASIS data items (subd. c).(42 CFR 484.55 — Condition of Participation: Comprehensive Assessment of Patients)
• 2The HHA must provide each patient a patient-specific comprehensive assessment, and for Medicare beneficiaries must verify eligibility for the home health benefit including homebound status at both the initial assessment visit and the comprehensive assessment (introductory paragraph).(42 CFR 484.55 — Condition of Participation: Comprehensive Assessment of Patients)
• 3The HHA must update and revise the comprehensive assessment (including OASIS) as frequently as the patient's condition warrants and not less frequently than the last 5 days of every 60 days, within 48 hours of the patient's return from a hospital admission of 24 hours or more (other than for diagnostic tests), and at discharge (subd. d).(42 CFR 484.55 — Condition of Participation: Comprehensive Assessment of Patients)
• 4The comprehensive assessment must be completed in a timely manner consistent with the patient's immediate needs but no later than 5 calendar days after the start of care, by a registered nurse (or, where therapy is the only ordered service, by the appropriate therapist) (subd. b).(42 CFR 484.55 — Condition of Participation: Comprehensive Assessment of Patients)
• 5A registered nurse must conduct an initial assessment visit within 48 hours of referral, within 48 hours of the patient's return home, or on the physician/allowed-practitioner-ordered start-of-care date (with limited exceptions where rehabilitation therapy is the only ordered service) (subd. a).(42 CFR 484.55 — Condition of Participation: Comprehensive Assessment of Patients)