House Bill 0923
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 923
By Representative Prieguez
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to home health agencies;
3 amending s. 400.462, F.S.; defining the term
4 "home health aide" and redefining the term
5 "nurse registry"; amending s. 400.506, F.S.;
6 authorizing nurse registries to refer home
7 health aides for contract; conforming
8 provisions; deleting a dual-registration
9 requirement; providing an effective date.
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11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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13 Section 1. Section 400.462, Florida Statutes, is
14 amended to read:
15 400.462 Definitions.--As used in this part, the term:
16 (1) "Certified nursing assistant" means any person who
17 has been issued a certificate after fulfilling the
18 requirements of s. 400.211.
19 (2) "Companion" or "sitter" means a person who cares
20 for an elderly, handicapped, or convalescent individual and
21 accompanies such individual on trips and outings and may
22 prepare and serve meals to such individual.
23 (3) "Department" means the Department of Health and
24 Rehabilitative Services.
25 (4) "Home health agency" means an organization that
26 provides home health services and staffing services for health
27 care facilities.
28 (5) "Home health agency personnel" means persons who
29 are employed by or under contract with a home health agency
30 and enter the home or place of residence of patients at any
31 time in the course of their employment or contract.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 923
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1 (6) "Home health aide" means a person who has
2 accomplished training required by the Agency for Health Care
3 Administration and is authorized to provide hands-on care,
4 including assisting the patient in the activities of daily
5 living, such as dressing, grooming, bathing, eating, and
6 personal hygiene, and assisting with physical transfer,
7 ambulation, and self-administered medications.
8 (7)(6) "Home health services" means health and medical
9 services and medical supplies furnished to an individual by
10 home health agency personnel or by others under arrangements
11 with the agency, on a visiting basis, in the individual's home
12 or place of residence. The term includes, but is not limited
13 to, the following:
14 (a) Nursing care.
15 (b) Physical, occupational, respiratory, or speech
16 therapy.
17 (c) Home health aide services.
18 (d) Nutritional guidance.
19 (e) Medical supplies, restricted to drugs and
20 biologicals prescribed by a physician.
21 (8)(7) "Homemaker" means a person who performs
22 household chores that include housekeeping, meal planning and
23 preparation, shopping assistance, and routine household
24 activities for an elderly, handicapped, or convalescent
25 individual.
26 (9)(8) "Nurse registry" means any person that
27 procures, offers, promises, or attempts to secure
28 health-care-related contracts for registered nurses, licensed
29 practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health
30 aides, sitters, companions, or homemakers, who are compensated
31 by fees as independent contractors, including, but not limited
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 923
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1 to, contracts for the provision of services to patients and
2 contracts to provide private duty or staffing services to
3 health care facilities licensed under chapter 395 or this
4 chapter.
5 (10)(9) "Patient" means any person who receives home
6 health services in his or her home or place of residence.
7 (11)(10) "Screening" means the assessment of the
8 background of home health agency personnel, nurse registry
9 personnel, and persons registered under s. 400.509 and
10 includes employment history checks, records checks of the
11 department's central abuse hotline under chapter 415 relating
12 to vulnerable adults, and statewide criminal records
13 correspondence checks through the Department of Law
14 Enforcement.
15 (12)(11) "Staffing services" means services provided
16 to a health care facility on a temporary basis by licensed
17 health care personnel, including certified nursing assistants.
18 Section 2. Subsection (10) of section 400.506, Florida
19 Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:
20 400.506 Licensure of nurse registries; requirements;
21 penalties.--
22 (10)(a) A nurse registry may refer for contract in
23 private residences registered nurses and licensed practical
24 nurses registered and licensed under chapter 464, certified
25 nursing assistants certified under s. 400.211, home health
26 aides, and sitters, companions, or homemakers for the purposes
27 of providing those services authorized under s. 400.509(1).
28 (b) A certified nursing assistant or home health aide
29 may be referred for a contract to provide care to a patient in
30 his or her home only if that patient is under a physician's
31 care. A certified nursing assistant referred for contract in
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 923
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1 a private residence shall be limited to assisting a patient
2 with bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, eating, physical
3 transfer, and those normal daily routines the patient could
4 perform for himself or herself were he or she physically
5 capable. A certified nursing assistant may not provide
6 medical or other health care services that require specialized
7 training and that may be performed only by licensed health
8 care professionals. The nurse registry shall obtain the name
9 and address of the attending physician and send written
10 notification to the physician within 48 hours after a contract
11 is concluded that a certified nursing assistant will be
12 providing care for that patient.
13 (c) A registered nurse shall make monthly visits to
14 the patient's home to assess the patient's condition and the
15 quality of care being provided by the certified nursing
16 assistant or home health aide. Any condition that which in
17 the professional judgment of the nurse requires further
18 medical attention shall be reported to the attending physician
19 and the nurse registry. The assessment shall become a part of
20 the patient's file with the nurse registry and may be reviewed
21 by the Agency for Health Care Administration during their
22 survey procedure.
23 (d) In order to refer for contract in private
24 residences a certified nursing assistant or any person
25 specified in s. 400.509(1), the nurse registry and such person
26 registered with the nurse registry must also be registered
27 under s. 400.509. Any person registered as an independent
28 contractor with a nurse registry for the purpose of providing
29 services authorized under s. 400.509(1) on or before October
30 1, 1990, is exempt from registration under s. 400.509 so long
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1 as such person remains continuously registered with that nurse
2 registry.
3 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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6 SENATE SUMMARY
7 Defines the term "home health aide" and provides for such
persons to be referred for contract by nurse registries.
8 Deletes a dual-registration requirement.
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