Situation Report | October 13, 2020
Last week approximately 140 participants joined HCA’s Policy team for a livestream review and discussion of the new state application process for programs wanting to conduct online aide training as part of a hybrid model.
If you missed the session, no problem, an archive is available here. Note: the online streaming system we use (Crowdcast) does not support Internet Explorer and Chrome is recommended.
As previously reported, the state Department of Health (DOH) has issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) outlining an application process for existing DOH-approved personal care aide (PCA) and home health aide (HHA) training programs to administer a hybrid model of online training. It was in response to a concept paper and proposal developed by HCA, the New York State Association of Health Care Providers and LeadingAge New York in consultation with a workgroup of members. Distinct from our concept paper, the approach ultimately adopted by the state is very prescriptive and imposes some additional requirements or features that HCA is working to further address.
During last week’s, program, HCA’s policy team walked through the DAL and its prescribed application process.
The HCA policy team also fielded numerous questions about the registration of trainers, use of pre-recorded content versus live content (and the timing of live Q&A sessions with nurse faculty) as part of the didactic training, class size limits, surveillance expectations, potential re-education and re-testing guidelines, and several other detailed questions that were answered by HCA and/or compiled for our follow-up queries to DOH.
Members are advised to write HCA early this week with any additional questions or procedural feedback related to the DAL so that HCA can direct this information to DOH as soon as possible for our follow-up action plan.
Please write to HCA’s Vice President for Program Policy and Services Andrew Koski at akoski@hcanys.org.