Community Mental Health Center

CMHCs are not licensed by the State of Louisiana. They are certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). HSS is the liaison between CMHCs and CMS.

Definition:42CFR410.2 states "Community mental health center (CMHC) means an entity that:

Provides outpatient services, including specialized outpatient services for children, the elderly, individuals who are chronically mentally ill, and residents of its mental health service area who have been discharged from inpatient treatment at a mental health facility;
Provides 24-hour-a-day emergency care services;
Provides day treatment or other partial hospitalization services, or psychosocial rehabilitation services;
Provides screening for patients being considered for admission to State mental health facilities to determine the appropriateness of this admission; and
Meets applicable licensing or certification requirements for CMHCs in the State in which it is located."
Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) are providers of services for partial hospitalization services. Providers must meet CoPs… to participate in Medicare. (See definitions at 42 CFR 498.2.)

Notice to New CMHC Providers

NOTE: Initial certification surveys for CMHC are prioritized by CMS as Tier 4 workload. This means that all higher tiered federal workloads must be completed prior to initial certification being conducted. As a result ,there may be a substantial delay in an initial certification survey being conducted. Providers may apply to CMS via the State Agency requesting consideration for an exception to the priority assignment of the initial survey if lack of Medicare certification would cause significant access-to-care problems for beneficiaries served by the provider. There is no special form required to make a priority exception request. However, the burden is on the applicant to provide data and other evidence that effectively establishes the probability of serious, adverse beneficiary healthcare access consequences if the provider is not enrolled to participate in Medicare.

Initial Processing Checklist

Forms to complete and submit to the Health Standards Section (click here)

please also include:

Fees - no fees are collected

Federal Regulations - Electronic Code of Federal Regulations - Title 42, Chapter IV, Subchapter G, Part 485, Subpart J-(Feb. 2015)