Home Care Admissions Outside Geographic Area

The Department of Health (DOH) recently shared instructions for home care and hospice agencies needing to admit a patient outside of their authorized service areas on their license.

Any Licensed Home Care Services Agency (LHCSA), Hospice, or Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) wishing to admit a patient residing in an unlisted county must first call their DOH Regional Office. A written request must be made on the agency’s letterhead and signed by the administrator or Director of Patient Services (DPS) of the agency.

The request must also outline the number of patients the agency serves outside of the approved service area, as well as affirmation that the agency does not intend to add this county to its license, OR that the agency has already applied to add it.

The requesting agency must also include written affirmation that the referring entity has tried all agencies licensed in that county before referring to your agency. Additionally, the referring agency must indicate why the request is being made. The written request must be sent as a Secure File Transfer attachment in the Health Commerce System (HCS) to:

• Your Regional Office Program Manager
• Mary Delisle, DOH
• Patricia Ellis, DOH

The requesting agency will receive an approval or denial in the HCS from the Director of the Division of Home and Community-Based Services. This letter must be placed in the patient’s file. An approval letter for this type of referral is strictly patient-specific and does not convey approval to serve other patients in that county.

For agencies wishing to formally add new service areas and services to their license, please see this Dear Administrator Letter (DAL).

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871