Expect Release of LHCSA and ALP LHCSA Statistical Reports This Week
The 2018 Licensed Home Care Services Agency (LHCSA) Statistical Report and 2018 Assisted Living Program (ALP) LHCSA Statistical Report will be released by the Department of Health (DOH) this week, Aug. 26th to 30th. The annual LHCSA registration attestation form is included in each report. Submission of the report/registration is required by law. The deadline for submission is Sat., Nov. 16, 2019.
LHCSAs that do not submit a complete report/registration in a timely fashion will be penalized:
- A $500 fine will be assessed for each month, or part of a month, that the organization is not registered.
- A LHCSA that failed to register in the prior year by the deadline of the current year shall not be permitted to register for the upcoming registration period unless it submits any unpaid late fees.
- Agencies that are not registered by the deadline will not be allowed to operate until they become registered.
- Agencies that fail to register timely for two years, not necessarily consecutive, may have their licenses revoked.
The most significant change in the process this year is that the ALP LHCSA Statistical Report will fully migrate from the Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) to the Universal Data Collection System (UDCS). ALP LHCSAs that exclusively serve the ALP will only fill out the ALP LHCSA Statistical Report. ALP LHCSAs serving both the ALP and the community are required to complete both the ALP LHCSA Statistical Report and the LHCSA Statistical Report. Reports will not be housed on the HERDS application.
You can view the instructions for both the ALP LHCSA Statistical Report and the LHCSA Statistical Report on the Health Commerce System (HCS). DOH also encourages providers to utilize last year’s HCS training webinars.
In addition, please review the Department’s Changes and New Edits document, which identifies new changes in the process and report format from last year. Among other things, changes relate to counties served, the average hourly compensation now excluding fringe benefits (fringe will be addressed elsewhere in the report), new gender and age cohorts on the unduplicated patient count, and a comment box for referrals that do not fall cleanly into listed choices. The document also lists validation checks for various questions on the report.
DOH will rerelease the FAQ from last year to clarify some of the questions coming in about form changes, how to report certain data, and software tech issues. The Department said that it will add on to last year’s FAQ any new questions that arise, and those questions will be listed at the top of the document.
This year’s process will require providers to uninstall the old software from last year’s report. All providers will have to do an install of this year’s new software. DOH has indicated that it will provide instructions for this process.
If providers have questions about the report, they should email DOH staff at hcstatrpts@health.ny.gov.
LeadingAge NY will keep members apprised of deadlines and changes as this reporting process unfolds. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871