The physician's report for assisted living is a medical form a licensed clinician fills out around admission. The community uses it to decide whether it can meet your parent's needs. It usually covers diagnoses, medicines, TB screening, memory and behavior, and the help your parent needs with daily activities. The form and timing depend on the state. California uses form LIC 602A, while Florida accepts AHCA Form 1823 or the practitioner's own form.
Key facts
- California's physician's report is form LIC 602A, Medical Assessment for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, completed by a licensed medical professional acting within their scope of practice. (California DSS, 2026)
- California's LIC 602A notes that residential care facilities for the elderly are non-medical facilities that cannot provide skilled nursing care. (California DSS, 2026)
- Florida accepts AHCA Form 1823, Resident Health Assessment for Assisted Living Facilities, or the practitioner's own form, after a face-to-face exam. (Florida Administrative Code, 2025)
- In Florida, the health assessment is due within 60 days before or 30 days after admission, and again at least every 3 years or after a significant change. (Florida Administrative Code, 2025)
- A 2015 federal review of state rules found that most states have rules on when and how assisted living communities assess residents. (ASPE, 2015)
The community has said yes, pending "the physician's report." Now you're holding a form several pages long, your dad's doctor has no appointments for three weeks, and move-in is in ten days. This post explains what the form is for, what it asks and who can sign it. It also shows how to get it filled out and back to the community without losing a week.
What is the physician's report for assisted living for?
It tells the community, in a clinician's words, whether your parent's needs fit what the community is licensed to provide. California's form states its purpose on the first page. The law requires the information to help decide whether the person is right for care in a "non-medical facility," as the form puts it. It notes in capital letters that such places cannot provide skilled nursing care.
Names vary by state: physician's report, medical assessment, health assessment. The rules vary too, because the states license assisted living. A 2015 federal review of state rules noted that assessments cover health and how well a person manages daily life. For that reason, states may ask for input from the applicant's own health care provider. So the first question to the community is always: "Which form, from whom, and by when?"
The physician's report is different from the community's own assessment, which its nurse or director does in person. The same review found that most states have rules on when and how the community assesses residents, so expect both. Our post on the assisted living assessment covers the community's side.
What does the physician's report ask?
Two state examples show what to expect. California's form is detailed and comes from the state. Florida sets what the form must contain and lets the clinician use their own form or the state's.
| California | Florida | |
|---|---|---|
| Form | LIC 602A, "Medical Assessment for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly" (revised 4/26) | AHCA Form 1823, Resident Health Assessment for Assisted Living Facilities, or the practitioner's own form |
| Who completes it | A licensed medical professional acting within their scope of practice | A health care practitioner, after a face-to-face exam |
| Timing | Made within the last year before the person is accepted as a resident | Within 60 days before or 30 days after admission |
| Main contents | Diagnoses, cognitive conditions, TB exam with dates and type, infectious and contagious diseases, allergies, physical health, capacity for self-care, mental health, behavioral expressions, access to hazardous items, medication management, ambulatory status, hospice | Physical and mental status, help needed with daily activities, nursing or therapy needs, special diet, current medications and help needed with them, signs or symptoms of TB and other communicable diseases, and a statement that the person's needs can be met in an assisted living community |
| Updates | When required by the state department | At least every 3 years, or after a significant change |
Two details on California's form are worth knowing before the appointment. The medicine section asks whether your parent can take their own prescriptions, give their own shots, and test their own blood sugar. It also asks about as-needed medicines and whether your parent can store their own. The section on walking asks whether your parent could leave the building without help in an emergency. The form ties this to the building's fire clearance. Other states differ, so check your community's form.
Who fills out which part of the form?
Usually three people touch the form, and each part has a different owner.
- The community fills in its name and contact details. On California's LIC 602A, that is Section I.
- Your parent, or their legal representative, fills in the personal details. They also sign a release that lets the clinician share the medical information with the community. On the LIC 602A, those are Sections II and III.
- The clinician fills out the medical sections and signs. California's form also asks how long the clinician has cared for the person. That's one reason a doctor who knows your parent is the best choice when there's time.
If a legal representative signs the release, bring a copy of the power of attorney or health care proxy. That way the right person signs and nobody has to redo it.
If your parent is in the hospital, ask on the first day whether a hospital doctor will fill out the community's form before discharge. Otherwise it may have to wait for your parent's own doctor. That one answer can decide the move-in date.
How do you get the physician's report back fast?
Treat it like a small project with a deadline. These steps save most of the waiting.
- Get the current form from the community itself. California's LIC 602A has a revision date at the bottom of each page (the current one reads 4/26). Ask whether an older version is still accepted.
- Fill in your parts first: personal details and the signed release.
- Book the appointment the same day, and say it's for an assisted living admission form with a deadline.
- Send a one-page summary ahead: current medicines with doses, allergies, recent falls or hospital stays, and what help your parent needs with bathing, dressing, toileting, meals and medicines.
- Ask how the form will reach the community, by fax, email or portal, and when.
- Check every page before it's sent, or ask the community to check it the day it arrives. A blank line or a missing signature can mean a second trip to the doctor.
When you call the doctor's office: "My father is moving into assisted living on the 20th. The community needs its medical assessment form filled out and signed by then, including TB screening. I'm sending the form and a one-page summary today. Could we book a visit this week, and who should I call if the form needs a follow-up?"
The TB screening is often part of the same form, so book them together. See the TB test for assisted living for which test fits a short timeline, and questions to ask your parent's doctor for the rest of that visit.
Book the doctor visit early
Parent Move Plan dates every task back from move-in day, so the doctor visit for the admission forms gets its own date instead of slipping into the last week. The 30-day version keeps the final week before the move intact, and the Google Sheet is shared with everyone helping.
Get your first 3 days freeWhy does an accurate report protect your parent?
The community uses the report to decide whether it can care for your parent safely, and to plan that care. If the report makes needs look smaller than they are, your parent may end up in a place that can't meet them. A second move often follows. If needs are clear, the community can plan the right level of help from the first day.
Getting it right can also affect the bill. If the community prices care in levels, ask how the physician's report and its own assessment set your parent's level. Then the price you agree to matches the care your parent will get.
Parents sometimes play things down at the doctor's office, and that's easy to understand. Before the appointment, ask your parent if you can come along or share your one-page summary with the doctor. The point is to make sure the doctor sees the whole picture.
The medicine section matters most in daily life. It shapes who handles your parent's pills after move-in, which our post on medication management in assisted living explains. For the rest of the admission paperwork, see documents you need for assisted living admission. And if the doctor visit still isn't booked with move-in close, the 30-day move guide shows what else to move forward.
Rules and prices differ by state. Assisted living rules and costs by state lists the medical exam, TB test, move-out notice, Medicaid and the median monthly cost for all 50 states, with sources.
Frequently asked questions
Who fills out the physician's report for assisted living?
A licensed clinician completes the medical part, usually your parent's own doctor or, during a hospital stay, a hospital physician. In California the form asks for a licensed medical professional acting within their scope of practice. In Florida a health care practitioner does a face-to-face exam. The community fills in its own section, and your parent or their legal representative signs the release.
Is there one national physician's report form for assisted living?
No. Assisted living is licensed by the states, so each state sets its own requirements and some have their own form. California uses LIC 602A, Florida accepts AHCA Form 1823 or the practitioner's own form, and other states differ. Ask the community for the exact form it needs.
How long is the physician's report valid?
It depends on the state. California requires the medical assessment to have been made within the last year before admission. Florida requires the exam within 60 days before or 30 days after admission, and again at least every three years or after a significant change.
What happens if the form is incomplete?
The community may have to go back to the doctor's office for the missing items, which can delay move-in. In Florida, missing items can be collected from the practitioner, but must be documented within 30 days after admission. Check every page before the form is sent.
Sources
- California Department of Social Services: LIC 602A, Medical Assessment for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (accessed Sept 2026)
- Cornell LII: Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, 87458, Medical Assessment (accessed Sept 2026)
- Florida Administrative Code: Rule 59A-36.006, Admission Procedures, Appropriateness of Placement and Continued Residency Criteria (accessed Sept 2026)
- ASPE: Compendium of Residential Care and Assisted Living Regulations and Policy, 2015 Edition (accessed Sept 2026)