As of November 16, 2017, all home and hospice care providers that participate with Medicare and Medicaid are required to meet new emergency preparedness requirements.

These new regulations for care workers are extensive and will require your agency to develop:

• A comprehensive emergency plan for a wide range of emergencies that could occur at your location.
• Implementation of policies and procedures according to this new plan and assess any risks.
• A communication plan that complies with state and federal regulations to ensure patient care is coordinated with other health care providers, emergency systems and health departments.
• Programs for training and testing the plan by participating in drills and exercises.

What Does This Mean for Your Agency?

As a health care agency, you are required to comply with these new requirements. You will need to be able to prove that you have completed each one. Organizations like the NAHC have developed training tools and manuals to assist you with your efforts with compliance. However, once you initially complete these requirements, your job doesn’t end there. As new direct care workers are hired, they will have to be trained. You will also need to continually monitor your emergency preparedness plan to assess whether the same risks apply or new risks develop in the future that need to be included in that plan.

How DCI’s Training Module Can Help

The DCI Training Module allows you to keep track of training requirements for your direct care workers. This software allows you to configure options for designing training profiles for all your employees and alerts you when training deficiencies are present. It can be integrated to provide online training access to both in-house and external training resources. By putting the DCI Training Module to work for your agency, you reduce your risk of training non-compliance.