“Deficiency-free” AZ

Weekly Regulatory Compliance Tips for AZ Assisted Living Owners

“Deficiency-free” AZ  

            Have you ever had to contact an employment agency for temporary staffing solutions? With 380,000 Caregivers lost since March 2020[1] it is quite possible that you’ve had to rely on a third party agency to help provide shift coverage.  State regulations impose personnel documentations on both the Licensee and Manager (See: A.A.C. R9-10-803 and R9-10-806).  These requirements include, but are not limited to:

·      valid caregiver certificates;

·      proof of current first aid and CPR training;

·      fingerprint clearance card verifications; and

·      timely proof of freedom from TB. 

When a temp is called-in on short notice, they likely do not have copies of all of those items with them. Instead, the Assisted Living home-owner or Manager is relying on the employment temp agency to have documented all of those requirements for the personnel they’ve supplied on a temporary or PRN basis.

But did you know that if the Department of Health happens to conduct a survey on a date that a temporary staffer is on-site, they have the right to review those documents for that individual? Not having the personnel records onsite could give rise to one or more deficiencies as part of the investigation report.  A.A.C. R9-10-703(C)(5)(a) requires an administrator to provide documentation within two (2) hours of the Department’s request. Would the temp company be able to provide you with all of the necessary documents for that worker in a timely manner to turn them around to AZ DHS within 2 hours?

Pinkowski Law & Policy Group can review the agreements provided to you by staffing agencies and recommend any edits required to protect your interests. We know that sometimes these transactions are done in haste in order to fill a needed shift STAT.  Thus, we are sharing this post with agencies whom we know supply workers on a contract basis, in the hopes that they will recognize the importance of having those documents accompany their personnel to assignments or having them immediately accessible to the assisted living home upon request. 

Just as the temp agency will want to retain a payment method such as a credit card on file, the Assisted Living home must have validated proof that the persons providing onsite services meet the standards required by state laws and regulations.  Relying on a staffing agency does not absolve the owner nor Manager from responsibility for complying with the regulations cited above.

*Look for more weekly blog posts on topics of interest to Arizona Assisted Living operators.  Or suggest a topic to: info@pinkowskilaw.com

[1] AARP Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)