Recording of DOH Webinar on New Waiver Request Process for ACFs to Use Certain Equipment Such as Enablers and Side Rails

The Department of Health (DOH) recently conducted a webinar to assist adult care facility (ACF) and assisted living providers with the new process put in place to submit waiver requests via the Health Commerce System (HCS) for certain durable medical equipment such as hospital beds or beds with half side rails, or an enabling device on a standard bed. As of April 1, 2022, this new process should be used.

A recording of the webinar can be accessed here.

The Department has also offered the following clarifications to some questions posed:

DOH-4235b presumes that a physician is ordering Medical Equipment, however residents may see PAs or NPs. Is this permissible as well?

Nurse Practitioners and/or Physicians’ Assistants can sign the DOH-4235b. Cosignatory requirements required by the Medicaid Program for assisted living program medical evaluations, for example, or the State Education Department, should be reviewed and considered by the signatory as applicable.

It appears that the order for equipment needs to be renewed once a year. How does this process coincide with the medical evaluation? Does the DOH 4235b need to [be] filled out again or will the medical evaluation suffice?

Once approved, a waiver does not need to be submitted annually provided there are no changes that would warrant a new submission. However, the DOH-4235B must be completed annually and maintained in the resident’s record.

Lastly, members are reminded that when the Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) was first issued, there was a typo, which has been addressed in this version of the DAL. Specifically, the correct mailbox for the Secure File Transfer submission is acf.waiver@health.ny.gov.

Click here for more background and resources on this issue.

Contact: Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8828