Current through Register No. 40, October 3, 2024
(a)
Provide personal care services and/or intermediary services or both as defined
in He-P
601.03;
(b) Monitor and ensure the quality of
personal care services and/or intermediary services provided to
individuals;
(c) Develop and
implement a written person-centered plan that will guide the provision of
personal care services, as follows:
(1) The
person-centered plan shall be developed in conjunction with the individual and
the individual's representative, if any;
(2) The OQA shall communicate with the
individual's case manager in order to ensure the person-centered plan is
consistent with and addresses the applicable service needs identified in the
comprehensive care plan; and
(3)
The person-centered plan shall contain:
a. A
description of the individual's needs and the scope of personal care
services;
b. The dates upon which
service will begin and end;
c. The
frequency of the service(s);
d.
Information on the individual's health condition, medications, and frequency,
allergies, and special dietary needs;
e. The anticipated goals and outcomes of
service provision; and
f. A
description of an individualized contingency plan that addresses unexpected
situations that could jeopardize the individual's health or welfare, and which:
1. Identifies alternative resources in the
event that normally scheduled personal care service providers are unavailable;
and
2. Addresses special evacuation
needs that require notification of the local emergency responders;
(d) Forward
a copy of the person-centered plan in (c) above to the case manager, upon the
completion or revision of the plan, and document the date it was
sent;
(e) Describe the roles and
responsibilities of individuals, representatives, OQA providers and personal
care service workers under the agency-directed and consumer-directed personal
care services options, as applicable;
(f) Notify individuals of his or her rights
and responsibilities including:
(1) The right
to select their own personal care service worker:
(2) The process for referring the
individual's selected personal care service worker to the OQA for hire;
and
(3) The OQA's criteria for
selecting or not selecting the personal care service worker chosen by the
individual;
(g) Develop
and implement a system for receiving and processing complaints including:
(1) A complaint and appeal process;
(2) Referrals to the department's ombudsman
program in accordance with
RSA
161-F:10-19; and
(3) Reports made in accordance with
RSA
161-F:46;
(h) Prepare and distribute person-centered
plans, both initial and revised, to individuals and representatives upon
request;
(i) Prepare and maintain a
policies and procedures manual that contains:
(1) Written policies and procedures for all
operational tasks performed and services provided by the agency including
agency-directed or consumer-directed personal care services or both;
(2) A confidentiality policy;
(3) A drug free work place
statement;
(4) A prohibition of
sexual harassment statement;
(5) An
individual site and home safety checklist;
(6) A universal precautions policy;
and
(7) A proper lifting techniques
and body mechanics policy;
(j) Develop and maintain a system for
customer service and for the provision of personal care services, including:
(1) A toll-free number by which individuals
can access OQA customer services including a statement of the OQA's business
hours and appropriate staff contacts;
(2) A system for returning all calls received
during and after regular business hours and prior to the close of the next
business day after receipt, respectively;
(3) A system for tracking communications with
and complaints/grievances from individuals and for resolving issues in an
effective manner;
(4) A
communication access plan for the provision of communication access for clients
with limited English proficiency, deafness or hearing loss, vision loss, or
speech impairments; and
(5) The
availability of alternative communication formats;
(k) Establish terms and conditions of
employment;
(l) Ensure that the
personal care service worker is able to meet the needs of the individual to be
served;
(m) Prior to employment,
conduct and document:
(1) A criminal
background check pursuant to RSA 161-:6-aI, and
He-P
601.11; and
(2) A NH central registry check pursuant to
RSA
161-F:49;
(n) Prior to personal care service workers
providing services to an individual:
(1) Have
evidence of a 2-step tuberculosis testing, mantoux method, or other method
approved by the Centers for Disease Control, conducted not more than 12 months
prior to employment;
(2) Allow the
personal care service worker to begin providing services if the TB test results
are negative for the first step, and the personal care service worker is
awaiting the results of the second step of the TB test; and
(3) Comply with the requirements of the
Centers for Disease Control "Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of M.
tuberculosis in Health-Care Settings" (2005 edition), available as noted in
Appendix A, if the person has either a positive TB test, or has had direct
contact or potential for occupational exposure to M. tuberculosis through
shared air space with persons with infectious tuberculosis;
(o) Complete reference checks for
potential personal care service workers if requested by the individual in
writing via letter, e-mail, or fax;
(p) Provide information to individuals or
their representatives about employing a consumer-directed personal care service
worker including, but not limited to:
(1)
Techniques for interviewing and screening personal care service
workers;
(2) Preparing interview
questions;
(3) How to schedule and
conduct an interview with a prospective personal care services
worker;
(4) The process for
referring selected personal care service workers to the OQA for hire;
(5) The process for informing candidates that
they have not been selected for employment; and
(6) Techniques for supervising personal care
service workers;
(q)
Develop a process for receiving and reviewing completed personal care service
worker applications;
(r) Develop a
personal care service worker's employment package including but not limited to:
(1) A personal care service worker's
handbook;
(2) An employment
application;
(3) INS Form I-9,
Verification of Citizenship and Alien Status, with instructions and completed
example;
(4) IRS Form W-4,
Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate with instructions and completed
example;
(5) IRS Notice 797,
Possible Federal Tax Refund Due to the Earned Income Credit (EIC);
(6) The hiring criteria and requirements used
by the OQA for rejecting a personal care service worker for employment who was
recruited and referred by an individual;
(7) A confidentiality policy;
(8) A drug free work place
statement;
(9) A statement on the
prohibition of sexual harassment statement;
(10) A statement signed by the individual or
the representative and the personal care service workers stating that the
worker has the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to meet the
individual's personal care services needs;
(11) The agreement form signed by every
individual or representative agreeing to abide by OQA policies and
procedures;
(12) Payroll pay days
schedule that the personal care service worker's paychecks are issued;
and
(13) The payroll schedule
illustrating when verification of the personal care service worker's time
worked are to be completed;
(s) Develop and maintain a system for
collecting and verifying the following information:
(1) The name and address of the individual
receiving personal care services;
(2) The name of the personal care service
worker;
(3) The day of the week,
date, and amount of time spent providing each occurrence of personal care
services; and
(4) The total number
of units of service provided during the time period documented;
(t) Include the following on paper
timesheets when they are used:
(1) The
signature of the individual receiving or directing the personal care services
indicating that the service was provided in accordance with the care plan, and
to the individual's satisfaction; and
(2) The signature or equivalent
evidence/verification of the personal care service worker indicating that the
information provided is accurate and signifying that the employee understands
that falsification of information provided could lead to prosecution;
(u) Develop and implement a
process for distributing personal care service worker's payroll checks,
ensuring that:
(1) The OQA is in compliance
with federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws;
(2) Only approved hours are reimbursed;
and
(3) The OQA has the option of
paying workers via direct deposit or mailing paychecks to workers'
homes;
(v) Assist
individuals and representatives to develop of an emergency back-up plan in the
event that the personal care service worker fails to report for work;
(w) Implement procedures for:
(1) Comparing the information verified in (s)
above with the individual's person-centered plan described in (c);
(2) Notifying the individual or
representative when information regarding the time worked does not reconcile
and facilitating the resolution of issues before payroll is
processed;
(3) The evaluation of
the personal care service worker performance; and
(4) The termination of a personal care
service worker;
(x) For
OQAs that offer consumer-directed personal care services, develop and maintain
a personal care service worker registry that individuals and representatives
can access when recruiting their personal care service workers;
(y) Ensure that:
(1) Individuals or their representatives
train their consumer-directed personal care service workers; and
(2) Workers providing consumer-directed
personal care services can access other training opportunities as deemed
necessary by the individual or their representative receiving
services;
(z) Provide
orientation to personal care service workers that includes but is not limited
to:
(1) Agency policies and processes
including those dealing with confidentiality;
(2) The individual's bill of
rights;
(3) Mandated adult
protective services (APS) reporting;
(4) Health insurance portability and
accountability act (HIPAA) basics;
(5) Blood-borne pathogens and universal
precautions; and
(6) Basic lifting
techniques;
(aa) Conduct
skills training at the agency or individual's home, including a description of
the skills training topics available;
(ab) Develop techniques for orienting and
training personal care service workers and document the training
provided;
(ac) Report to the
appropriate authority any individual who is suspected of being abused,
neglected, exploited, or self-neglecting, in accordance with the adult
protection law, RSA
161-F:46;
(ad) Initiate action to maintain the OQA in
full compliance at all times with the health and safety requirements contained
in applicable federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations, and
ordinances;
(ae) Possess and
maintain written proof of insurance coverage as required by applicable state or
local laws and rules;
(af) Comply
with the department's quality assurance procedures in accordance with
RSA
126-A:4, IV and these
rules;
(ag) Identify, report, and
manage:
(1) Personal care service
worker-related injuries;
(2)
Individual's injuries; and
(3)
General incidence reporting;
(ah) Maintain and make available safety
information, including, but not limited to:
(1) An individual site and home safety
checklist;
(2) Procedures for
identifying and reporting personal care service worker's injuries;
(3) Procedures for addressing
emergencies;
(4) Emergency contact
people and telephone numbers to contact at the OQA; and
(5) Procedures regarding universal
precautions and safe lifting techniques;
(ai) Establish a disaster recovery plan for
computer files that addresses:
(1) The
estimated time for the return to operation; and
(2) The accuracy of software and data at
return to operation;
(aj) Ensure all personnel utilize universal
precautions as defined in
He-P
601.03(w); and
(ak) Comply with and make available upon
request any licensing or certification requirements required by applicable
federal, state, or local laws and/or rules.
(See Revision Notes # 1 and #2 at chapter heading for
He-P 600) #9898-A, eff 3-29-11; amd by #9959, eff
7-26-11
