Situation Report | November 30, 2020
The state Department of Health (DOH) has posted a revised Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) on health assessments and immunizations correcting the wrong regulatory citations for pre-employment health assessments and annual reassessments that were in the original October 14, 2020 DAL (HCA had alerted DOH to the wrong citations).
In addition, the revised DAL deletes prior language that the pre-employment health assessment may be completed by an RN, and instead includes the following language that was not part of the October 14 DAL: “The annual health assessment may be completed by an RN who the agency finds is qualified to carry out the assessment process, and provided that the agency has policies and procedures in place to identify whether an RN is appropriate to complete employee health assessments.”
Both DALs remind providers to monitor the Health Commerce System (HCS) and DOH website for additional guidance — specifically, the Commissioner’s designation of influenza prevalence which, once declared, triggers state-required protocols.
Questions regarding immunizations should be directed to immunize@health.ny.gov while COVID-19 questions can be sent to covidhomecareinfo@health.ny.gov.