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Tip Sheets
Minnesota Home Care/Hospice Licensure & Medicare Certification
Minnesota law requires certain agencies and individuals that
offer home care services, for a fee, to be licensed, registered or certified
with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
REGISTRATION: Agencies and individual paraprofessionals
who only perform two or more home management tasks (housekeeping, shopping, meal
preparation) are required to register with the MDH. There are minimal
regulations under registration.
The following are descriptions of the six Minnesota
home care licenses:
1. Class A – PROFESSIONAL HOME CARE PROVIDER
Allows for provision of all home care services, at least one
of which is:
- nursing,
- physical therapy,
- speech therapy,
- respiratory therapy,
- occupational therapy,
- nutritional services,
- medical social services,
- home health aide tasks and
- the provision of medical supplies and equipment when accompanied by the
provision of a home care service.
- Self-employed occupational, speech and respiratory therapists and
nutritionists providing home care must obtain a Class A license.
NOTE: Medicare certification is optional except for agencies
that offer home health services paid by Medical Assistance. If an agency is
Medicare-certified it must also have a Class A home care license but a Class A
agency is not required to be Medicare-certified.
2. Class B –
PARAPROFESSIONAL HOME CARE AGENCY
Allows for the provision of
:
- home care aide tasks and
- home management tasks
3. Class C – INDIVIDUAL PARAPROFESSIONAL
Allows for a self-employed
individual to perform:
- home health aide tasks,
- home care aide tasks and
- home management tasks
- Is employed directly by the consumer.
NOTE:
An individual paraprofessional trained only to perform home care aide tasks may
not perform home health aide tasks. An individual paraprofessional
trained to perform home health aide tasks may also perform home care aide
tasks. Home management tasks may be performed by either credentialed
individual paraprofessional. See the tip sheet Home Care Paraprofessional
Services for an outline of tasks that can be done by paraprofessionals.
4. Class D – HOSPICE
PROVIDER
Allows for the provision of
hospice services such as:
- physician services,
- nursing services,
- medical social services,
- pastoral or other counseling services and
- volunteer services
5. Class E – ASSISTED
LIVING PROVIDER
- Allows for the provision of home care aide
tasks and home management tasks to tenants in a residential or congregate
housing building.
- Home health aide tasks are not allowed
under this license.
There are less than twenty Class E licensees
in Minnesota.
6. ASSISTED LIVING HOME CARE PROVIDER
LICENSE
- Is specifically for the delivery of
health-related services in a registered Housing With Services
(HWS) building.
- Provides one or more health-related
services (professional nursing services, home health aide tasks and home
care aide tasks or the central storage of medications).
- Typical settings are apartment buildings,
board and lodging residences (the tenant has a single or shared room with
or without a private bathroom) and corporate adult foster care homes
(generally single family home or duplexes).
- Permits the storage of medications
given to tenants by the home care staff in a central location
in the building.
- Insulin
injections may be performed by unlicensed personnel (paraprofessionals)
under regulated training and supervision by a registered nurse.
MEDICARE CERTIFICATION
Home care licensure is different from Medicare
certification. Minnesota requires a home care license for the delivery of
certain home care services and the federal government requires certification
of agencies offering home care services paid by Medicare (a federal program).
The Minnesota Department
of Health certifies agencies that offer Medicare home health services.
Certification means meeting certain federal standards for delivery of
services (such as nursing, therapies, personal care) and fiscal management.
In Minnesota, Medicare home
care and hospice are only offered through agencies that have a Class A or
Class D (Hospice Provider) license in addition to its Medicare
certification.
You have the option to seek
Medicare home care from a Medicare-certified agency not affiliated with your
assisted living building, if necessary.
Office of Ombudsman for Older
Minnesotans
1-800-657-3591
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