Initial Health Assessment

Home Standards Q&A Initial Health Assessment

We are an intake facility and are quarantining all intakes for 14 days due to coronavirus concerns. Standard P-E-04 Initial Health Assessment states that initial health assessments must be completed within seven days, including a physical examination and a pelvic exam when clinically indicated. However, due to quarantine, our patients are not able to come to the health services unit. How does NCCHC advise that we handle this?

Over the past months, we have received many requests for information about how to handle changes to operations due to COVID-19. While we understand that there may be changes, we ask facilities to do their best to address the needs of their patients, follow the standards, document changes made, and return to normal operations as soon as possible. Many facilities are struggling with the same issue. In some, intake staff go to the cell or a private area close to the cell to complete the initial health assessment instead of bringing patients to the clinic. Other facilities complete a modified initial health assessment that assesses top comorbid conditions along with a brief mental health screen in the time frame set forth in the standards, with a documented plan to complete any omitted health screen items as soon as possible and schedule the pelvic exam as soon as the inmate can be seen in the clinic. Whatever you do, be sure your response is thoughtful and well-documented, and includes looking at the risks of postponing assessments or aspects of care. As always, come into compliance with standards as soon as possible.

— From CorrectCare Volume 34, Issue 3, Summer 2020

The medical team at our juvenile detention center is looking for guidance about continuing to do routine physical exams on youth admitted to our facility. Should we still perform initial health assessments within one week of admission per NCCHC standards? Or should we hold off on routine physicals until the coronavirus crisis has passed?

Because these are new patients, it’s important to get an assessment of their health status. That being said, your local medical authority should determine the details of this assessment according to the level of risk for COVID-19 or other disease transmission to and among you and your patients. Always follow recommended levels of personal protective equipment and high-quality infection control procedures, and please see Standard Y-B-01 Infection Prevention and Control Program as a reference.

— From CorrectCare Volume 34, Issue 2, Spring 2020

If an RN performs the initial health assessment after documented training, does the MD still need to sign off on the health assessment? I know this was a previous requirement, but I no longer find this in the 2018 standards.

This was one of the changes to the 2018 edition of the jail standards. Standard E-04 Initial Health Assessment says that a physical examination is to be performed by a qualified health care professional (defined as a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or nurse). There is no compliance indicator that says a physician has to sign off on the assessment. The responsible physician does, however, need to determine the components of the initial health assessment.

— From CorrectCare Volume 34, Issue 1, Winter 2020

Our facility is preparing for NCCHC accreditation and we have a question about Standard E-04 Initial Health Assessment. We thought there was a requirement that all inmates are to receive an annual health assessment but cannot find that in the standard.

The standard gives jails two options. (1) “Full population assessment” requires that the initial health assessment be completed as soon as possible but no later than 14 calendar days after admission. (2) The “individual assessment when clinically indicated” must be completed within two working days after admission, and other stipulations must be met in order to qualify for this option. For prisons and juvenile facilities, the full population assessment must be completed as soon as possible but no later than seven calendar days after admission; the individual assessment when clinically indicated is not an option.

In addition, periodic health assessments should be considered an important part of ongoing disease prevention. The responsible physician should determine the frequency and content of these exams for various groups based on age and risk factors. In the 2018 Standards for jails and prisons, this requirements appears in B-03 Clinical Preventive Services, compliance indicator #2. For juvenile facilities, see E-04 Health Assessment, compliance indicator #3.

— From CorrectCare Volume 33, Issue 2, Spring 2019

Is it within the scope of a paramedic to perform the physical examinations/hands-on portion of the health assessments?

Standard E-04 Initial Health Assessment requires that inmates receive an initial health assessment as soon as possible and provides two options for completing this task: the full population assessment and individual assessment when clinically indicated.

The initial health assessment requires many components, some of which involve having a qualified health care professional collect additional data to complete the medical, dental and mental health histories including any follow-up from positive findings obtained during receiving screening and subsequent encounters as well as recording vital signs. A qualified health care professional is defined as anyone who by virtue of education, credentials and experience is permitted by law to evaluate and care for patients.

Your question relates to the physical examination component of the initial health assessment. The standard specifies who is permitted to complete this portion on both options. For the full population assessment, the physical exam may be completed by a physician, a midlevel provider or an RN who has completed the appropriate training. For the individual assessment when clinically indicated, the exam may be performed only by a physician or midlevel provider. The standard does not permit a physical exam to be conducted by a paramedic in either option.

— From CorrectCare Volume 31, Issue 2, Spring 2017

I have reviewed the 2014 NCCHC Standards but I cannot locate the time line for a tuberculosis test to be completed from the date of booking. Am I missing it, or is it the facility’s preference?

The answer varies depending on whether you are referring to a jail or a prison.

For jails, this is addressed in standard E-04 Initial Health Assessment. Whether you are using the full population assessment or individual assessment when clinically indicated, it is expected that TB testing is done at the time of the health assessment unless there is documentation from the health department that the prevalence rate does not warrant it (see compliance indicators #2e and #6e). The health assessments must be conducted within 14 calendar days after admission for facilities that conduct full population assessments, and within two days for facilities that choose the individual health assessment option.

For prisons, the Receiving Screening standard (E-02) states that a tuberculosis test must be completed during the screening (see compliance indicator #11).

— From CorrectCare Volume 31, Issue 1, Winter 2017

Can a licensed practical nurse serve as a facility’s health services administrator? Or would the LPN be working beyond his or her scope of practice, for example, by performing health assessments? In this facility, the LPN is the only health worker.

Standard A-02 Responsible Health Authority defines a health administrator as a person who by virtue of education, experience or certification is capable of assuming responsibility for arranging all levels of health care and ensuring quality and accessible health services for inmates. While an LPN may serve as the health services administrator, final clinical judgments must rest with a single, designated, licensed responsible physician.

Your second question refers to Standard E-04 Initial Health Assessment. While states vary in the scope of practice for LPNs, NCCHC standards are clear. An LPN may collect additional data to complete the medical, dental and mental health histories, and may take and record vital signs, but the hands-on physical must be performed by a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or trained RN.

— From CorrectCare Volume 30, Issue 3, Summer 2016

Our regional jail accepts inmates from many surrounding cities. With regard to the initial health assessment, does a physical assessment need to be repeated at our regional jail if the inmate coming from another facility already had a physical assessment and it was done within 14 days at the other jail?

There are a couple of standards to consider. First, E-04 Initial Health Assessment has requirements for what the health assessment should include and who may perform each component of the assessment (history vs. physical examination). You would need to determine if the health assessments being done at the surrounding jails meet this standard. The second standard to consider is E-03 Transfer Screening. Health staff at the regional jail would need to confirm that the initial health assessment was completed at the intake jail when transfer screening is completed. If not, it would need to be completed at the regional jail as soon as possible. If the health assessments that are done at the surrounding jails meet the standard, then it would not need to be repeated at the regional jail.

— From CorrectCare Volume 28, Issue 4, Fall 2014

We are unclear on whether we have to conduct annual physicals for inmates. Is this required under standard J-E-04 Initial Health Assessment?

J-E-04 does not require an annual physical. This standard pertains to the initial health assessment and not ongoing care. Health care for chronic diseases may require periodic assessments, and relevant clinical practice guidelines should be consulted. Standard J-E-12 Continuity of Care During Incarceration requires that the responsible physician determine the frequency and content of periodic health assessments based on protocols promulgated by nationally recognized professional organizations.

— From CorrectCare Volume 27, Issue 2, Spring 2013

We are doing option two of the Initial Health Assessment standard (E-04). As the standard requires, all inmates receive a comprehensive receiving screen at intake. Medications are verified and continued from this screening. Anyone identified as having an acute or unstable condition is immediately admitted to the infirmary for follow-up. All other patients who need the initial health assessment are scheduled with a midlevel provider, who works Monday through Friday. For the stable patients who need the health assessment, if they come in on Friday and are seen on Monday, would that exceed the two days specified in the standard? It seems that for the stable patients, especially because we are continuing all medication treatments from intake, we would be meeting community standards.

First, you did not indicate who conducts the intake screening. To qualify for option two (Individual Assessment When Clinically Indicated), standard E-04 requires that a licensed health care professional conduct a comprehensive receiving screening.

In your process, individuals who have significant health problems are sent to the infirmary (it is assumed that the initial health assessment is done within two days). However, you have created a classification of “stable clinically significant finding.” NCCHC does not recognize this classification. By definition, if one has been found to have a clinically significant finding—whether acute or chronic, stable or unstable—they are treated the same and hence are to have the initial health assessment within two working days.

Option two is meant to focus resources on patients with the greatest health needs. If the enhanced receiving screening process identifies individuals with any deviation from the normal that significantly affects their health, safety and welfare, then it is expected that the initial health assessment be done within two working days. “Working day” is defined as any day of the week except Sunday, public holidays and, in some cases, Saturday. Thus, a Friday admission would need the initial health assessment to be done on Monday.

— From CorrectCare Volume 26, Issue 4, Fall 2012

Initial Health Assessment

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