DOH Provides Webinar on LHCSA Survey Process
(July 2, 2024) The Department of Health (DOH) held the first of two trainings on the survey process for Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSAs) on June 27th. The presentation provided a review of the survey process by Mildred Ferriter, Director of Quality and Surveillance within the Office of Aging and Long-Term Care's (OALTC) new Center for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), and Lori Novak, Program Director of DOH's Capital District Regional Office.
The presentation reviewed the following important aspects of the survey process:
- Pre-survey activities the Department takes to prepare for the visit
- Entrance conference
- Program review
- Clinical record review
- Personnel record review
- Home visits
- Staff interviews
- Information analysis and decision-making by the Department
- Exit conference
Some questions and answers (Q&A) were provided at the end of the presentation:
- Who can be the point person for the survey?
- It does not have to be the Director of Patient Services, but must be someone clinical to confirm records/information – could be a nurse or strong clinical administrator.
- If more than three years have passed since the last survey, does DOH go back to those earlier years?
- No.
- Does DOH require in-office fire drills?
- No. Maybe it is in a LHCSA's lease. Could be an emergency preparedness drill and best practice.
- Must the care plan be posted in an Assisted Living Program (ALP) resident's room, in addition to the nurses' station?
- No, but could be a best practice and likely is a best standard.
- What happens when an agency attempts to get a physician's order and fails, or the physician is no longer willing to sign?
- Agency cannot provide care without timely orders. Document attempts to obtain it.
The slides can be found here, and a recording will be available soon. Many questions were posed to the Department, and they will be providing a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to address them.
The next DOH training will be on LHCSA survey deficiencies and will likely be in late July. LeadingAge NY will notify members of that date as soon as it is available. Please pay attention to Integrated Health Alerting and Notification System (IHANS) announcements regarding this opportunity. The resources will also be posted on the Learning Management System (LMS) on the Health Commerce System (HCS).
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871