DOH to Resume Electronic Plan of Correction (ePOC) for Home Care

DOH posted on April 3, a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) DHCBS 14-04 announcing they will be resuming the use of the Electronic Plan of Correction (ePOC) application to automate the distribution of Statements of Deficiencies (SODs) to several home care providers and the receipt of the Plans of Corrections from home care providers. The ePOC application will be conducted through the Health Commerce System (HCS).

In your agency you should have accounts set-up in HCS. Home care providers will have access to the application via their HCS roles, some that exist and some that will be new. The DAL outlines the current roles - who has access to read the SODs, who has access to write POCs, and who has access to submit the POCs to DOH on behalf of their agency. 

According to the DAL, a new Operator role represents a change in DOH policy.

From the DAL, "for Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) and Hospices, all SODs issued for surveys with exit dates after May 1, 2014 will be distributed via ePOC system and the POCs for these SODS must be submitted via the ePOC system. For LHCSAs, all SODs issued for surveys with exit dates after June 1, 2014 will be distributed via ePOC system and the POCs for these SODS must be submitted via the ePOC sysytem."  

Questions about the DAL or ePOCS can be sent to homecare@health.state.ny.us.

Contact: Cheryl Udell, cudell@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871