Let’s face it; there are just going to be some residents that your community cannot provide the proper care too. This may be due to community-specific clinical limitations or the following regulation provided by NC DHSR. Regardless of the reason, it is necessary for you to understand the implications of accepting a resident you cannot care for. You will ultimately overload your staff when requiring them to care for a resident outside of your scope as well as drawing the attention of DHSR in the form of a complaint inspection.
- 131D-2.2. Persons not to be cared for in adult care homes and multiunit assisted housing with services; hospice care; obtaining services.
(a) Adult Care Homes. – Except when a physician certifies that appropriate care can be provided on a temporary basis to meet the resident’s needs and prevent unnecessary relocation, adult care homes shall not care for individuals with any of the following conditions or care needs:
(1) Ventilator dependency;
(2) Individuals requiring continuous licensed nursing care;
(3) Individuals whose physician certifies that placement is no longer appropriate;
(4) Individuals whose health needs cannot be met in the specific adult care home as determined by the residence; and
(5) Such other medical and functional care needs as the Medical Care Commission determines cannot be properly met in an adult care home.
(b) Multiunit Assisted Housing With Services. – Except when a physician certifies that appropriate care can be provided on a temporary basis to meet the resident’s needs and prevent unnecessary relocation, multiunit assisted housing with services shall not care for individuals with any of the following conditions or care needs:
(1) Ventilator dependency;
(2) Dermal ulcers III and IV, except those stage III ulcers which are determined by an independent physician to be healing;
(3) Intravenous therapy or injections directly into the vein, except for intermittent intravenous therapy managed by a home care or hospice agency licensed in this State;
(4) Airborne infectious disease in a communicable state that requires isolation of the individual or requires special precautions by the caretaker to prevent transmission of the disease, including diseases such as tuberculosis and excluding infections such as the common cold;
(5) Psychotropic medications without appropriate diagnosis and treatment plans;
(6) Nasogastric tubes;
(7) Gastric tubes, except when the individual is capable of independently feeding himself or herself and caring for the tube, or as managed by a home care or hospice agency licensed in this State;
(8) Individuals requiring continuous licensed nursing care;
(9) Individuals whose physician certifies that placement is no longer appropriate;
(10) Unless the individual’s independent physician determines otherwise, individuals who require maximum physical assistance as documented by a uniform assessment instrument and who meet Medicaid nursing facility level-of-care criteria as defined in the State Plan for Medical Assistance. Maximum physical assistance means that an individual has a rating of total dependence in four or more of the seven activities of daily living as documented on a uniform assessment instrument;
(11) Individuals whose health needs cannot be met in the specific multiunit assisted housing with services as determined by the residence; and
(12) Such other medical and functional care needs as the Medical Care Commission determines cannot be properly met in multiunit assisted housing with services.
(c) Hospice Care. – At the request of the resident, hospice care may be provided in an assisted living residence under the same requirements for hospice programs as described in Article 10 of Chapter 131E of the General Statutes.
(d) Obtaining Services. – The resident of an assisted living facility has the right to obtain services at the resident’s own expense from providers other than the housing management. This subsection shall not be construed to relieve the resident of the resident’s contractual obligation to pay the housing management for any services covered by the contract between the resident and housing management. (2009-462, s. 1(e).)
Pro Tip:
- Your admin, the clinical leadership, as well as marketing team, need to be on the same page as to the type of residents you can care for. Your marketers cannot have autonomy on who you admit to the community if they do not understand the clinical capabilities of your team.
- Develop a red light, yellow light, and green light system for admissions by categorizing certain diagnoses under each color. For instance, the services in this regulation certainly fall under ‘red light’.