Emergency, incident and safety policies

Emergency plan

Ready.gov describes a business’s preparedness plans as covering emergency response, crisis communications, business continuity and IT disaster recovery. For a home care agency, that means knowing how you will reach clients and caregivers, keeping current emergency contacts for every client, deciding which clients are checked on first, and keeping services running if the office or systems are down.

CMS has an emergency preparedness rule for certain Medicare and Medicaid participating provider and supplier types, including Medicare-certified home health agencies. For Medicaid-only facilities, CMS says to contact the State Medicaid Agency to find out whether they are required to meet it. Check whether it applies to you.

Incident reporting and follow-up

1. Define what counts as an incident, such as a fall, injury, medication concern, missed visit or property loss.
2. Say who the caregiver tells, and how fast.
3. Write it up on one form, with facts only.
4. Tell the client’s family or representative and anyone your state requires.
5. Follow up: what changed so it is less likely to happen again, and who closed it.

Our own planning. Your state may set what must be reported, to whom and when.

Suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation

ACL describes adult protective services as a social services program provided by state and local governments for older adults and adults with disabilities who need help because of abuse, neglect, self-neglect or financial exploitation, and says that in all states APS is charged with receiving and responding to reports. Write down how staff report a suspicion to your state’s APS. Who is a mandated reporter, and how fast a report is made, depend on your state’s mandated-reporter rules.

Infection control

CDC describes standard precautions as practices used for all patient care, including hand hygiene, protective equipment whenever exposure to infectious material is expected, respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, and cleaning and disinfecting equipment. Write down what caregivers do on every visit and what supplies you provide. This page is not clinical instruction.

Worker safety

OSHA lists hazards home healthcare workers can face, including bloodborne pathogens, ergonomic hazards from lifting clients, violence, hostile animals, unsanitary conditions and driving between homes. OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard applies to occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials; check whether your workers have that exposure based on their duties. OSHA calls a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence one of the best protections a healthcare employer can offer workers. Some states run their own OSHA-approved plans, which must be at least as effective as OSHA; check whether yours does.