1. The department shall establish by rule in accordance with chapter 17A minimum standards for certification and monitoring of assisted living programs. The department may adopt by reference with or without amendment, nationally recognized standards and rules for assisted living programs. The rules shall include specification of recognized accrediting entities and provisions related to dementia-specific programs. The standards and rules shall be formulated in consultation with affected state agencies and affected industry, professional, and consumer groups; shall be designed to accomplish the purposes of this chapter; and shall include but are not limited to rules relating to all of the following:

 a. Provisions to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the health, safety, and well-being and appropriate treatment of tenants.
 b. Requirements that assisted living programs furnish the department with specified information necessary to administer this chapter. All information related to a provider application for an assisted living program submitted to the department shall be considered a public record pursuant to chapter 22.
 c. Standards for tenant evaluation or assessment, and service plans, which may vary in accordance with the nature of the services provided or the status of the tenant. When a tenant needs personal care or health-related care, the service plan shall be updated within thirty days of occupancy and as needed with significant change, but not less than annually.
 d. Provisions for granting short-term waivers for tenants who exceed occupancy criteria.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 231C.3

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Assisted living: includes the provision of housing and assistance with instrumental activities of daily living only if personal care or health-related care is also included. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Consumer: means any one of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 216E.1
  • Department: means the department of health and human services. See Iowa Code 249L.2
  • Department: means the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing or the department's designee. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Governmental unit: means the state, or any county, municipality, or other political subdivision or any department, division, board, or other agency of any of these entities. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • Health-related care: means services provided by a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse, on a part-time or intermittent basis, and services provided by other licensed health care professionals, on a part-time or intermittent basis. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Personal care: means assistance with the essential activities of daily living which may include but are not limited to transferring, bathing, personal hygiene, dressing, grooming, and housekeeping that are essential to the health and welfare of the tenant. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • program: means an entity that provides assisted living. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • Recognized accrediting entity: means a nationally recognized accrediting entity that the department recognizes as having specific assisted living program standards equivalent to the standards established by the department for assisted living programs. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Significant change: means a major decline or improvement in the tenant's status which does not normally resolve itself without further interventions by staff or by implementing standard disease-related clinical interventions that have an impact on the tenant's mental, physical, or functional health status. See Iowa Code 231C.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Tenant: means an individual who receives assisted living services through a certified assisted living program. See Iowa Code 231C.2
 2. Each assisted living program operating in this state shall be certified by the department. If an assisted living program is voluntarily accredited by a recognized accrediting entity, the department shall certify the assisted living program on the basis of the voluntary accreditation. An assisted living program that is certified by the department on the basis of voluntary accreditation shall not be subject to payment of the certification fee prescribed in section 231C.18, but shall be subject to an administrative fee as prescribed by rule. An assisted living program certified under this section is exempt from the requirements of section 10A.713 relating to certificate of need requirements.
 3. The owner or manager of a certified assisted living program shall comply with the rules adopted by the department for an assisted living program. A person including a governmental unit shall not represent an assisted living program to the public as an assisted living program or as a certified assisted living program unless and until the program is certified pursuant to this chapter.
 4. a. Services provided by a certified assisted living program may be provided directly by staff of the assisted living program, by individuals contracting with the assisted living program to provide services, or by individuals employed by the tenant or with whom the tenant contracts if the tenant agrees to assume the responsibility and risk of the employment or the contractual relationship.

 b. If a tenant is terminally ill and has elected to receive hospice services under the federal Medicare program from a Medicare-certified hospice program, the assisted living program and the Medicare-certified hospice program shall enter into a written agreement under which the hospice program retains professional management responsibility for those services.
 5. The department may enter into contracts to provide certification and monitoring of assisted living programs. The department shall:

 a. Have full access at reasonable times to all records, materials, and common areas pertaining to the provision of services and care to the tenants of a program during certification, monitoring, and complaint investigations of programs seeking certification, currently certified, or alleged to be uncertified.
 b. With the consent of the tenant, visit the tenant’s unit.
 c. Require that the recognized accrediting entity providing accreditation for a program provide copies to the department of all materials related to the accreditation, monitoring, and complaint process.
 6. The department may also establish by rule in accordance with chapter 17A minimum standards for subsidized and dementia-specific assisted living programs. The rules shall be formulated in consultation with affected state agencies and affected industry, professional, and consumer groups.
 7. A department, agency, or officer of this state or of any governmental unit shall not pay or approve for payment from public funds any amount to an assisted living program for an actual or prospective tenant, unless the program holds a current certificate issued by the department and meets all current requirements for certification.
 8. The department shall adopt rules regarding the conducting or operating of another business or activity in the distinct part of the physical structure in which the assisted living program is provided, if the business or activity serves nontenants. The rules shall be developed in consultation with affected state agencies and affected industry, professional, and consumer groups.
 9. An assisted living program shall comply with section 135C.33.
 10. The department shall conduct training sessions for personnel responsible for conducting monitoring evaluations and complaint investigations of assisted living programs.
 11. Certification of an assisted living program shall be for two years unless certification is revoked for good cause by the department.
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