HCAF: Agency for Health Care Administration Update (SN, OT, ST - 2.0)

Florida’s home care regulatory environment continues to evolve, creating new compliance responsibilities and operational questions for home health agencies and other home care providers. This session will provide a practical regulatory update focused on issues that can directly affect an organization’s license, survey outcomes, workforce practices, and day-to-day operations.

Participants will review top survey deficiencies and discuss how providers can move beyond minimum compliance toward excellence in home health. The session will also address important administrative and personnel requirements, including changes involving contract nurses, administrators, and alternate administrators, as well as required timelines for reporting changes in personnel, addresses, governing board membership, and other information to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

Special attention will be given to Florida’s Family Home Health Aide (FHHA) program, including licensure changes that incorporate the FHHA role, agency responsibilities, and implementation considerations. The presentation will also examine AHCA’s Direct Care Workforce Survey Dashboard and how its data can help providers understand broader staffing trends.

Another focus will be understanding the regulatory boundaries among Florida provider types. Using AHCA’s Consumer Guide, participants will examine the differences among home health agencies, nurse registries, homemaker and companion services, and other providers. This discussion will reinforce important scope-of-service distinctions, including that medication management is a skilled service and that homemaker and companion services providers cannot provide personal care services.

The session will also address several licensure issues that frequently create confusion for providers. Participants will review why a license renewal is not complete merely because documentation has been submitted; the required payment must also be received. Practical guidance will cover renewal applications, omission letters, approaching expiration dates, and the steps providers should take if they have submitted and paid for a renewal on time, responded to requests for additional information, and have not yet received their renewed license.

Finally, the session will explore emerging operational questions, including AHCA’s position on agencies’ use of virtual assistants and the compliance considerations organizations should evaluate before delegating administrative or operational functions to remote or virtual personnel.

Speaker/Course Author - Susan Harris Lowery & Kimberly McIntyre