Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 59A-8.003 - Licensure Requirements
(1) The issuance
of a home health agency license shall be based upon compliance with Chapters
400, Part III, and 408, Part II, F.S., and rule Chapters 59A-8 and 59A-35,
F.A.C., and an inspection as required in Sections
400.471(2) and
408.806(7),
F.S. An application for initial, change of ownership, or renewal licensure, or
for the addition of skilled services by a home health agency that is currently
licensed to provide services other than skilled services, shall be submitted on
the Health Care Licensing Application, Home Health Agency, AHCA Form 3110-1011,
April 2019, incorporated by reference and available at
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-12455,
and accompanied by the Health Care Licensing Application Addendum referenced in
subsection 59A-35.060(1),
F.A.C. Applicants for renewal of a home health agency license or for a change
during the licensure period may submit the Health Care Licensing Online
Application, Home Health Agency, AHCA Form 3110-1011OL, April 2019,
incorporated by reference and available at
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-12456.
The application forms are available online at
http://www/ahca.myflorida.com/HQAlicensureforms or, for online renewal or
change during the licensure period submissions, at:
http://apps.ahca.myflorida.com/SingleSignOnPortal.
(2) Surveys of Home Health Agencies:
(a) Home health agencies will be surveyed by
AHCA or an accrediting organization as defined in rule
59A-8.002, F.A.C., pursuant to
dections 400.471(2),
408.806 and
408.811, F.S. Home health
agencies will be surveyed prior to initial licensure, and at least every 36.9
months on an unannounced basis thereafter. Follow up surveys may be conducted
to verify correction of deficiencies at any time on an unannounced
basis.
(b) It is the responsibility
of the home health agency to request exemption from state licensure surveys
pursuant to section 400.471(2),
F.S., by submitting documentation of accreditation by an approved accrediting
organization and the most recent accreditation survey report from the
accrediting organization to the AHCA Laboratory and In-Home Services
Unit.
(c) Home health agencies that
complete paragraph (a), will not be subject to licensure surveys by AHCA except
under the following circumstances:
1. The
home health agency has been denied accreditation, has received a preliminary
determination of denial of accreditation, or has received a provisional,
conditional, or deferred accreditation report from the accrediting organization
on its most recent survey, or
2.
The home health agency has received accreditation but has not authorized the
release of the accreditation survey report to the AHCA, or has not ensured that
AHCA has received the accrediting organization's survey report.
3. If the home health agency elects to give
up its accreditation, the home health agency will inform AHCA by providing a
copy of the letter it sent to its accrediting organization that shows the
accreditation termination date.
(3) AHCA will conduct investigations of
complaints regarding licensure violations as required in section
408.811, F.S.
(4) An application for a change of ownership
shall be made on the forms prescribed by AHCA, as referenced in subsection (1)
of this rule.
(a) At the time of the transfer
of ownership all patient or client records held by the current licensee shall
be transferred to the applicant.
(b) AHCA will accept the most recent
successful licensure inspection conducted no more than 36.9 months prior to the
effective date of the change of ownership as satisfaction of the inspection
requirement in section
408.806(7),
F.S. related to an application associated with a change in ownership of a
licensed home health agency. Acceptance of the inspection does not alter the
survey timeframes established in paragraph (3)(a).
(c) Failure to apply for a change of
ownership of a licensed home health agency as required by section
408.806(2)(b),
F.S., shall result in a fine pursuant to sections
400.474(1),
(2)(a) and
408.813(3)(b),
F.S. This is also applicable to owners who incorporate and do not report this
change of ownership to the home health agency.
(5) A licensed home health agency may operate
a satellite office. A satellite office must be located in the same geographic
service area as the agency's main office and share administration, fiscal
management, supervision, and service provision with the main office; it is not
separately licensed. Supplies and records can be stored at a satellite office
and phone business can be conducted the same as in the main office. The
administrator at the main office is responsible for the staffing, patients, and
operation of any satellite office. Signs and advertisements can notify the
public of the satellite office location. If the agency wants to open an office
outside of the geographic service area where the main office is located, the
office must be separately licensed.
(6) A home health agency that operates a
satellite office must:
(a) Ensure coverage of
the professional staff which takes into account the projected number of clients
to be served at the satellite office;
(b) Coordinate care and services by
staff;
(c) Ensure supervision of
the staff and provision of services in the event of staff
absenteeism;
(d) Maintain a system
of communication and integration of services between the main office and the
satellite office;
(e) Provide
access to patient records at the satellite office;
(f) Monitor the daily activities (clinical
and administrative) and the management of services, as well as personnel and
administrative issues at the satellite office;
(g) Ensure periodic onsite visits to each
satellite office by the home health agency's administrator;
(h) Make the satellite office's hours of
operation available to the public if different than the hours of operation
maintained by the main office.
(7) A licensed home health agency may operate
a drop-off site in any county within the geographic service area specified on
the license. A drop-off site may be used for pick-up or drop-off of supplies or
records, for agency staff to use to complete paperwork or to communicate with
the main office, existing or prospective agency staff, or the agency's existing
patients or clients. Prospective patients or clients cannot be contacted and
billing cannot be done from this location. The drop-off site is not a home
health agency office, but merely a work station for direct care staff in large
areas where the distance is too great for staff to drive back frequently to the
home health agency office. Training of home health agency staff can be done at
a drop-off site. A drop-off site shall not require a license. No other business
shall be conducted at these locations, including housing of records. The agency
name cannot appear at the location, unless required by law or by the rental
contract, nor can the location appear on agency letterhead or in
advertising.
(8) If a change of
address is to occur, or if a home health agency intends to change the counties
served within the geographic service area, or open or close a satellite office
or drop-off site, the home health agency must complete and submit the Health
Care Licensing Application, Home Health Agency, AHCA Form 3110-1011, April 2019
or the Health Care Licensing Online Application, Home Health Agency, AHCA Form
3110-1011OL, April 2019, incorporated by reference in subsection (1), above,
within the timeframe prescribed in paragraph
59A-35.040(2)(b),
F.A.C. For an address change of the main office or satellite office, the home
health agency must submit to the AHCA evidence that the location is zoned for a
home health agency business for the new address and evidence of legal right to
occupy the property in accordance with Section
408.810(6),
F.S.
(9) A home health agency has
the following responsibility in terms of hours of operation:
(a) The home health agency administrator and
director of nursing, or their alternates, must be available to the public for
any eight consecutive hours between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday of each week, excluding legal and religious holidays. Available to the
public means being readily available on the premises or by
telecommunications.
(b) When the
administrator and the director of nursing are not on the premises during
designated business hours, a staff person must be available to answer the phone
and the door and must be able to contact the administrator and the director of
nursing by telecommunications. This individual can be a clerical staff
person.
(c) If an AHCA surveyor
arrives on the premises to conduct an unannounced survey and the administrator,
the director of nursing, or a person authorized to give access to patient
records, are not available on the premises they, or the designated alternate,
must be available on the premises within an hour of the arrival of the
surveyor. A list of current patients must be provided to the surveyor within
two hours of arrival if requested.
(d) The home health agency shall have written
policies and procedures governing 24 hour availability to licensed professional
nursing staff by active patients of the home health agency receiving skilled
care. These procedures shall describe an on-call system whereby designated
nursing staff will be available to directly communicate with the patient. A
home health agency that does not provide skilled services shall have written
policies and procedures which address the availability of a registered nurse
supervisor during hours of patient service.
(e) Failure to be available or to respond
during a survey or inspection will be grounds for denial or revocation of the
agency license in accordance with Section
408.806(7),
F.S.
(10) Upon revocation,
suspension, voluntary or involuntary termination of a license, the home health
agency shall return its license to AHCA. If the provider voluntarily chooses to
terminate the license, the provider must notify AHCA, as required in Section
408.810(4)(a),
F.S. This includes submitting a letter to the AHCA Laboratory and In-Home
Services Unit, 2727 Mahan Drive, Mail Stop #32, Tallahassee, Florida 32308,
officially declaring the closure date of the home health
agency.
Notes
Rulemaking Authority 400.497, 408.819 FS. Law Implemented 400.464, 400.471, 400.474, 400.484, 400.497, 408.806, 408.807, 408.810 FS.
New 4-19-76, Formerly 10D-68.03, Amended 4-30-86, 8-10-88, 5-30-90, 6-12-91, Formerly 10D-68.003, Amended 4-27-93, 10-27-94, 1-30-97, 1-17-00, 7-18-01, 9-22-05, 8-15-06, 3-29-07, 7-11-13, 6-16-15, 7-27-16, 1-5-21.
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