Posted by: Robert Markette
April 13, 2007
Topic: Home Care and Hospice Regulations

I have been a little inconsistent in posting to the blog the last few weeks and I apologize for that. I have had a couple of major deadlines at work and getting work done for the clients trumps posting to the blog. (I have intended to post at night, but my kids have had other ideas the last few weeks.)

Last weeks Home Health Line contained an interesting article about New Yorks investigation into the certification of home health and personal care aides. It seems there has been a significant amount of fraud in New York recently in the aide training and certification industry. One aide training agency was simply issuing certificates upon payment of $300 - $400. (Given that companies do this for graduate degrees, it surprises me it has taken this long for this scam to trickle down to aide certification.)

Many agencies in New York are now having to respond to subpoenas requesting documentation for their aides. This is part of an investigation to determine whether any of their aides were fraudulently certified. Of course this places a huge burden on the home health providers to go back and check certificates for all of the aides they employ. It is unclear where this investigation is heading, but it would not surprise me to discover that one of the goals is to recoup funds for any services provided by an improperly certified aide.

This is important for agencies outside of New York, because once New York has some success recouping funds this way, you can expect the practice to move across the country. Furthermore, the OIG has indicated its concern about certification of personal care and home health aides. If OIG is concerned, you should expect the states to be concerned. This will mean more investigations.

Agencies need to be certain their aides are properly certified, not on the OIG exclusion list, and in America legally. Checking certifications usually amounts to obtaining a copy of the aides certification (or checking with a previous employer) and performing a competency evaluation. Some states maintain a home health aide registry. In Indiana, for example, if an aide is on the list, he or she is eligible to be hired. Having a central list makes the burden on the verifying providers much simpler, because they can print the entry showing the aide is on the list and in good standing. (In Indiana, an agency is only required to check the list to ensure the aide is registered and in good standing. Of course in Indiana the vast majority of home health aide training is provided by home health providers.)

If you are in a state with a central registry, but you are still not certain, you can check with the agency that originally registered the applicant or issued the certification. If the aides training was provided by a training company, you should verify attendance, G.P.A. (if they kept track), graduation date and the curriculum.

If an entity is simply issuing fraudulent certifications, they may be prepared to issue fraudulent curricula and attendance records. Which makes you wonder what the State of New York thinks the providers should do. Frankly, if New York is going to allow home health aide training to be provided by third parties, should the training companies be investigated and certified, and prosecuted for issuing fraudulent certificates.

If you request this documentation, but do not receive it or have any question about its validity, you should discuss the validity of the aides certification with her. Things that might raise questions about an aides training include lack of understanding of home health aide tasks, etc. If there is any doubt that the aide received the 75 hours of training required, you should either provide the training yourself or not hire the aide.

Depending upon the size of your agency, it is probably not time to go through every aide file and verify certifications. However, going forward, it may be a good idea to check any certification issued by a training company or to verify an aide worked for an agency that is alleged to have provided the 75 hours of training, to ensure the aide received the training required by state and federal law. This verification should be maintained in the employees file, along with documentation of the aides continuing education.

News

New York Home Health Aide Certification Fraud

News

Health Care

Topics

Recent Updates

Archives

Web Resources



	Home \| Attorneys \| Contact Us \| Site Map
	The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. Copyright © 2008 by Home Care Law Blog Gilliland & Markette LLP. All rights reserved. You may reproduce materials available at this site for your own personal use and for non-commercial distribution. All copies must include this copyright statement.