DALs & Policy Updates

Regulatory Affairs

2020 DOH DALS

DOH Issues Dal Announcing CHRC Reimbursement; Providers Must Verify Correct Information

This week, the Department of Health (DOH/the Department) issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) announcing that the Department is preparing to issue reimbursement checks for Criminal History Record Check (CHRC) fingerprinting for Adult Homes, Enriched Housing Programs, Licensed Home Care Service Agencies (LHCSA), and Hospice providers.

In the DAL, DOH reminds providers that as a New York State vendor, it is your responsibility to ensure your business entity’s information is accurate and up-to-date with the New York Statewide Financial System (SFS). Contact information should be reviewed as needed. Several providers have been identified as either not having an SFS account or inaccurate address information. Therefore, the Department is requiring all Adult Care Facility, LHCSA, and Hospice providers to review their vendor information within SFS.

Providers must access their SFS account and verify that the address/location for receiving payments is correct by Friday, March 20th. The Department will be unable to remit payment to providers without an SFS account or those who have an account with incorrect address/location.

Providers should review, and if necessary, update their vendor information through the New York State Vendor Portal.

Providers who are not on the State Financial System (SFS) must immediately register by completing the “New York State Office of the State Comptroller Substitute Form W-9: Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification”. Completed forms should be emailed to sfsvidr@health.ny.gov. Once you submit your completed Substitute Form W- 9, the Office of the State Comptroller’s Vendor Management Unit will contact you directly to complete the process of establishing a vendor identification number, which is required to set up your SFS account. Once your vendor ID has been established, please contact the Criminal History and Records Bureau at 518-402-5549 so we may update our database.

Providers can access the full DAL here. The Form W-9 can be accessed here.

DOH Recently Issued DAL on CHRC Requirements and Best Practices

As a reminder, DOH recently issued a separate Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) to ensure providers are aware of the Department’s Criminal History Record Check (CHRC) requirements and provide best practices for the processing of CHRC requests. This DAL was the subject of discussion during HCP’s recent Home Care Forum.

The DAL, found here, covers:

Authorized Persons – Those who are authorized to contact the Department regarding CHRCs and how to manage who has authorization;

Submissions – What to submit on the CHRC application and how to handle submission errors;

Timeframes – Within which and under what circumstances notify the Department regarding CHRCs;

Mandated Forms – To be used for a CHRC, how to ensure a submission is complete and how to terminate a submission;
Results- The supervision requirements to be followed pending results, after a favorable determination, and after a negative determination;

Quality Assurance – Access to reports to identify employee status, need for supervision, and those requiring fingerprinting;
Confidentiality – CHRC information must remain strictly confidential and accessible only to the authorized person. Willful release of information is a crime; and

DOH Contact Mechanisms and Information related to CHRC applications.

DAL DHCBS 20-01 CHRC

Late last week the Department of Health (DOH/the Department) issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) to ensure providers are aware of the Department’s Criminal History Record Check (CHRC) requirements and provide best practices for the processing of CHRC requests. The full DAL can be found at this link.

DOH DAL – DHCBS 20-05 PCA – HHA- AHHA TRAINING DOCUMENTATION VERIFICATION
On Thursday, January 30, 2020, the Department of Health (DOH/ the Department) Division of Home and Community Based Services (DHCBS) issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) related to aide training Documentation Verification.

The purpose of the DAL is to re-familiarize providers with the January 6, 2011 Home Care Registry (HCR) Advisory regarding verification of successful completion of training. The DAL also additional guidance on training documentation verification for hiring aides. Agencies reviewing potential aides for employment should review all available required materials to determine that training was received from an approved training program. The required materials may include the certificate of completion, but MUST include the HCR profile.

The aide is not required to provide the hiring agency with a copy of their certificate for employment purposes if they are listed in the public view on the HCR. All documentation that was reviewed for a position should be included in the aide’s personnel file and be available to surveyors, upon request.

The entire DAL and 2011 HCR Advisory can be found at this link.

Any questions regarding this information should be sent to hcreg@health.ny.gov.

New York State Department Of Health DAL 20-04

HCP was contacted by the Department of Health (DOH/the Department) on Friday, January 24 regarding the DAL DHCBS 20-04 Providing Training Outside of Licensed Service Area.

DAL DHCBS 20-04 revises guidelines for Licensed Home Care Service Agencies (LHCSAs), Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs), and Hospices who operate a Personal Care Aide Training Program (PCATP), a Home Health Aide Training Program (HHATP), or an Advanced Home Health Aide Training Program (AHHATP). These guidelines are in direct response to a request by HCP and its members to clarify whether training programs can be provided in counties that are not included on a license of operating certificate.

DAL: DHCBS 20-11

Subject: Home Care and Hospice Guidance Pertaining to Regulatory Requirements – UPDATED

2021 DOH DALS

TB Testing Clarification – (4/6/2021)

DAL: Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Annual TB Testing – (2/18/2021)

Tuberculosis Risk Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – (2/18/2021)

DOH DAL: Annual TB Testing – (1/29/2021)

DAL 21-09: In-services

2022 DOH DALS

This page contains a selection of Dear Administrator Letters (DALs) published by the New York State Department of Health. For complete and up-to-date information on the latest DALs available to New York State home care providers please visit the Health Commerce System (HCS).

DHCBS 22-16 LHCSA Stat Report

DHCBS 22-14 Licensed Home Care Services Agency Licensure

DHCBS 22-13 Staff COVID-9 Screening

DHCBS 22-12: LHCSAs by County 6/15/22

DHCBS 22-11: Health Commerce System (HCS) Roles 6/2/22

DHCBS 22-10: verification of Employment Requirement

DHCBS 22-09 PCATP Updates 6/2/22

DOH Notice: Adult Care Facilities 4/18/22

DHCBS 22-07 Aide Certification 4/11/22

22-07 Attachment Policies and Procedures

22-07 Attachment HC Registry Advisory

Influenza Personnel Report 2022