The Department of Health (DOH), Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG), and New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) collaborated to establish a new Certification requirement for Social Adult Day Care (SADC) providers. As of May 8, 2015, SADC providers are required to complete the Certification process designed to ensure participant health, safety and regulatory compliance. Last year, Barclay Damon published a legal alert summarizing compliance requirements for SADC providers: Reminder: Social Adult Day Services Providers Contracting with MLTCs Must Comply with NYSOFA Regulations. Today, SADC entities must additionally certify to continued compliance with NYSOFA regulations and standards. By June 30, 2015, any SADC entity that contracts with a Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) Plan or receives funding from NYSOFA or an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is required to complete the Self-Certification.
Certification requires SADC providers to attest compliance with NYSOFA standards and regulations as set forth in Title 9 NYCRR §6654.20, including but not limited to:
- Fire and DOH codes
- Policies and procedures addressing:
- Participant eligibility
- Admissions/discharge
- Service plan
- Staffing plan
- Participants rights
- Service delivery
- Program self-evaluation
- Records
- Emergency preparedness
- Updated participant files
- Nutrition standards
- Staff and volunteer health records
- Training records
- Capacity to contract with MLTC plans
- Completed and documented NYSOFA annual self-evaluation
SADC providers also must identify each and every MLTC plan the SADC program currently contracts with. According to Department of Health guidance, when MLTC contracts are entered into or terminated before Certification is again due, SADC entities are responsible for notifying the Department of such changes. The Certification form can be found on OMIG’s website: https://www.omig.ny.gov/sadc-certification. Remember to mark your calendars— SADC providers must complete the Self-Certification annually, twelve months from its prior Certification.