Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Functional Screen Instructions: Module 7 - Completing the Screen

Download the complete Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Instruction Manual and Best Practices, P-00934 (PDF).

7.1 Screen completion date

Indicate the date (mm/dd/yyyy) on which all sections of the screen were complete. It may take more than one day to complete all sections, especially if a screener must wait for information from health care providers. It is acceptable for one person to enter the demographic information (module 3) and for the certified screener to complete the clinical entries (modules 4-7). However, all the screen entry time should be combined and put under the certified screener’s name. The screen completion date is the date when all sections were completed by the certified screener, not the date information is entered into the screen application.

When correcting information on a screen, do not change the screen completion date. Enter the time it took to correct or update a screen. If you are simply making changes to the demographics (example: change of address), then enter “0.” You must re-calculate eligibility after making screen corrections. Write all times as hours and minutes rounded to the nearest 15 minutes (00, 15, 30, 45). The screen application will sum them for the total time.

Face-to-face contact with person
Time the screener spent face-to-face meeting with the applicant. Round the time to the nearest 15 minutes (00, 15, 30, 45).

Collateral contacts
Time the screener took to complete in-person or telephone contact with anyone other than the applicant, including family, advocates, providers, etc.

Paperwork
Time the screener took to review medical documents, transcribing notes, and any phone contact with the applicant required to finalize the screen. Round the time to the nearest 15 minutes (00, 15, 30, 45).

Travel time
Time the screener spent traveling to and from appointments associated with the gathering of information necessary to complete the screen. Round the time to the nearest 15 minutes (00, 15, 30, 45).

Total time to complete screen
The computer application will calculate and auto-enter this field based on the above entries.

7.2 Notes

Use this space to include any information missed in other sections of the screen.

7.3 Calculating eligibility and level of need

The act of calculating eligibility and level of need is the final step that makes a screen complete. This applies to new screens or updates to existing screens.

• When you enter a new screen, the screen is considered incomplete until eligibility is calculated. The screen is incomplete if there is no green check mark next to eligibility on the left navigation bar.
• When making a change to an existing screen, there are some instances when eligibility must be re-calculated. Re-calculating eligibility sometimes is not required.
• Anytime data is changed that may cause a change in eligibility/level of need (a change to community living skills or risk factors, etc.), eligibility must be re-calculated, even though the level of need results may not have changed. In addition, anytime there is a change to the applicant’s name, Social Security Number, or a birth date, eligibility must be re-calculated, even though these data items won’t have any effect on the level of need.

Eligibility does not need to be re-calculated when the following information is changed.

• Applicant address
• Applicant phone number
• Applicant gender
• County/tribe of residence
• County of responsibility
• Directions
• Screener’s name
• Referral date
• Medical insurance
• Contact information

How can you tell when you need to re-calculate eligibility? Always check for the green check mark next to eligibility on the left navigation bar. If there is a green check mark, the screen is considered complete. A red check mark means the screen is considered incomplete.

7.4 Unexpected outcomes

Unexpected outcomes are results that do not appear to the screener to be congruent with the needs of the person being screened. The results may be different from prior screens, but if that change appears appropriate, then the results are not unexpected.

Whenever the results of a screen are unexpected by the screener, the screen is not considered complete and accurate. If the screen outcome results in an individual’s ineligibility to enroll in a program or may result in a potential disenrollment of the individual from a program, the results are not complete until the screener agrees that the results are appropriate based on a complete and accurate screen.

The screener should ask the agency screen lead to review the screen in cases of an unexpected outcome. If, after that review, the results continue to be unexpected, the agency screen lead should contact the screen lead at DHS who will perform a full review of the screen and consult with the screen lead until the screen results are considered complete and accurate.

Once the screen is considered complete and accurate, the screener takes the action the screening agency requires based on the results of the screen.

Note: When a screener believes the screen results accurately reflect the individual’s needs, the screener does not need to request a follow-up review, even if the results have changed from the previous screen.

Refer all questions about outcomes to the agency screen lead. The agency screen lead will refer unresolved questions to DHS. This process assures that interpretations are consistent and communicated to all agencies using the screen.