Category: SETTING: Nursing Homes

This Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment and Access Policy and Procedure Toolkit for Nursing Homes and Adult Care Facilities is intended to provide easy-to-adapt policies and procedures for facilities that wish to implement or improve their care for residents with SUD, which includes access to behavioral health resources, medications, telehealth, and referral networks. Most of the policies deal with opioid use disorder treatment, as this was the overarching need identified by nursing homes and adult care facilities; however, this toolkit was designed to be modified, and future updates will include additional substance use disorder policies.

According to a CMS memo regarding Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder (SUD), CMS has identified a need to improve guidance related to meeting the unique health needs of residents with mental health diagnoses and SUD. CMS clarified that when facilities care for residents with these conditions, policies and practices must not conflict with resident rights or other requirements of participation. They further clarified that facility staff should have knowledge of signs and symptoms of possible substance use, and are prepared to address emergencies (e.g., an overdose) by increasing monitoring, administering naloxone, initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as appropriate, and contacting emergency medical services.^[1] This naloxone nursing home toolkit is intended to provide easy to adapt policies and procedures for nursing homes that need to implement or improve their emergency response to opioid overdose, which includes naloxone administration.

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[1] Revised Long-Term Care Surveyor Guidance | CMS. www.cms.gov. Accessed January 17, 2023. (https://www.cms.gov/medicareprovider-enrollment-and-certificationsurveycertificationgeninfopolicy-and-memos-states-and/revised-long-term-care-surveyor-guidance)

The Nursing Home Naloxone Policy & Procedure Toolkit PowerPoint

This is another resource, designed to be used as an introductory presentation. This slide deck contains an abridged version of the Toolkit and provides a general overview of the Toolkit contents. It includes select references to regulatory guidance, background, need assessment, features, and brief descriptions of the policies, procedures, and resources contained in the Toolkit.

Nursing Home Naloxone Policy & Procedure Toolkit Implementation Checklist

This resource was created to help facilities implement the Nursing Home Naloxone Policy & Procedure Toolkit. This checklist provides an overview for a process to successfully implement select toolkit contents.