Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) is a federal requirement established to identify individuals with mental illness and/or intellectual developmental disability to ensure appropriate placement in the community or a nursing facility.
In brief, PASRR requires all applicants to Medicaid-certified nursing facilities be assessed to determine whether they might have an intellectual disability or mental illness. This is called a Level I screen. The purpose of a Level I screen is to identify individuals whose total needs require that they receive additional services for their intellectual disabilities or serious mental illness. Individuals who test positive at Level I are then evaluated in depth to confirm the determination of an intellectual disability or mental illness for PASRR purposes. This is a Level II screen. This assessment produces a set of recommendations for necessary services that are meant to inform the individual's plan of care.
PASRR requirements apply only to Medicaid-certified nursing facilities, and do not apply to Medicare-only skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, or community-based residential facilities.
Purposes of PASRR
- Evaluate individuals seeking admission to nursing facilities and current nursing facility residents to determine if they have a serious mental illness or a intellectual disability.
- Identify the individual’s strengths and needs.
- Determine if the individual needs specialized psychiatric rehabilitation services to address his/her mental illness issues or specialized services to address his/her mental illness or intellectual disability issues.
- Determine if the individual needs placement in a nursing facility versus placement in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, institution for mental diseases, intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities, or a community setting (example: group home).
- Notify the client or the client’s legal representative and other appropriate parties of the results of the evaluations and the determinations.
