231C.3 - CERTIFICATION OF ASSISTED LIVING PROGRAMS.
231C.3 CERTIFICATION OF ASSISTED LIVING PROGRAMS.
1. The department shall establish by rule in accordance with
chapter 17A minimum standards for certification and monitoring of
assisted living programs. The department may adopt by reference with
or without amendment, nationally recognized standards and rules for
assisted living programs. The rules shall include specification of
recognized accrediting entities and provisions related to
dementia-specific programs. The standards and rules shall be
formulated in consultation with affected state agencies and affected
industry, professional, and consumer groups; shall be designed to
accomplish the purposes of this chapter; and shall include but are
not limited to rules relating to all of the following:
a. Provisions to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the
health, safety, and well-being and appropriate treatment of tenants.
b. Requirements that assisted living programs furnish the
department with specified information necessary to administer this
chapter. All information related to a provider application for an
assisted living program submitted to the department shall be
considered a public record pursuant to chapter 22.
c. Standards for tenant evaluation or assessment, and service
plans, which may vary in accordance with the nature of the services
provided or the status of the tenant. When a tenant needs personal
care or health-related care, the service plan shall be updated within
thirty days of occupancy and as needed with significant change, but
not less than annually.
d. Provisions for granting short-term waivers for tenants who
exceed occupancy criteria.
2. Each assisted living program operating in this state shall be
certified by the department. If an assisted living program is
voluntarily accredited by a recognized accrediting entity, the
department shall certify the assisted living program on the basis of
the voluntary accreditation. An assisted living program that is
certified by the department on the basis of voluntary accreditation
shall not be subject to payment of the certification fee prescribed
in section 231C.18, but shall be subject to an administrative fee as
prescribed by rule. An assisted living program certified under this
section is exempt from the requirements of section 135.63 relating to
certificate of need requirements.
3. The owner or manager of a certified assisted living program
shall comply with the rules adopted by the department for an assisted
living program. A person including a governmental unit shall not
represent an assisted living program to the public as an assisted
living program or as a certified assisted living program unless and
until the program is certified pursuant to this chapter.
4. a. Services provided by a certified assisted living
program may be provided directly by staff of the assisted living
program, by individuals contracting with the assisted living program
to provide services, or by individuals employed by the tenant or with
whom the tenant contracts if the tenant agrees to assume the
responsibility and risk of the employment or the contractual
relationship.
b. If a tenant is terminally ill and has elected to receive
hospice services under the federal Medicare program from a
Medicare-certified hospice program, the assisted living program and
the Medicare-certified hospice program shall enter into a written
agreement under which the hospice program retains professional
management responsibility for those services.
5. The department may enter into contracts to provide
certification and monitoring of assisted living programs. The
department shall:
a. Have full access at reasonable times to all records,
materials, and common areas pertaining to the provision of services
and care to the tenants of a program during certification,
monitoring, and complaint investigations of programs seeking
certification, currently certified, or alleged to be uncertified.
b. With the consent of the tenant, visit the tenant's unit.
c. Require that the recognized accrediting entity providing
accreditation for a program provide copies to the department of all
materials related to the accreditation, monitoring, and complaint
process.
6. The department may also establish by rule in accordance with
chapter 17A minimum standards for subsidized and dementia-specific
assisted living programs. The rules shall be formulated in
consultation with affected state agencies and affected industry,
professional, and consumer groups.
7. A department, agency, or officer of this state or of any
governmental unit shall not pay or approve for payment from public
funds any amount to an assisted living program for an actual or
prospective tenant, unless the program holds a current certificate
issued by the department and meets all current requirements for
certification.
8. The department shall adopt rules regarding the conducting or
operating of another business or activity in the distinct part of the
physical structure in which the assisted living program is provided,
if the business or activity serves nontenants. The rules shall be
developed in consultation with affected state agencies and affected
industry, professional, and consumer groups.
9. An assisted living program shall comply with section 135C.33.
10. The department shall conduct training sessions for personnel
responsible for conducting monitoring evaluations and complaint
investigations of assisted living programs.
11. Certification of an assisted living program shall be for two
years unless certification is revoked for good cause by the
department. Section History: Recent Form
96 Acts, ch 1192, §3; 2003 Acts, ch 166, §10; 2005 Acts, ch 60,
§6--10, 21; 2006 Acts, ch 1010, §72; 2007 Acts, ch 215, §162--166;
2009 Acts, ch 156, §12
Referred to in § 235E.1