The following definitions and abbreviations and those found in chapter 182-500 WAC apply to subchapter II:

"Acute care" means care provided by a home health agency for clients who are not medically stable or have not attained a satisfactory level of rehabilitation. These clients require frequent intervention by a registered nurse or licensed therapist.

"Authorized practitioner" means:

(a) A physician, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, or physician assistant who may order and conduct home health services, including face-to-face encounter services; or

(b) A certified nurse midwife under 42 C.F.R. 440.70 when furnished by a home health agency that meets the conditions of participation for medicare who may conduct home health services, including face-to-face encounter services.

"Brief skilled nursing visit" means a registered nurse, or a licensed practical nurse under the supervision of a registered nurse, performs only one of the following activities during a visit to a client:

(a) An injection;

(b) Blood draw; or

"Chronic care" means long-term care for medically stable clients.

"Full skilled nursing visit" means a registered nurse, or a licensed practical nurse under the supervision of a registered nurse, performs one or more of the following activities during a visit to a client:

(a) Observation;

(b) Assessment;

(d) Teaching;

(e) Training;

(f) Management; and

(g) Evaluation.

"Home health agency" means an agency or organization certified under medicare to provide comprehensive health care on an intermittent or part-time basis to a patient in any setting where the patient's normal life activities take place.

"Home health aide" means a person registered or certified as a nursing assistant under chapter 18.88 RCW who, under the direction and supervision of a registered nurse or licensed therapist, assists in the delivery of nursing or therapy related activities, or both.

"Home health aide services" means services provided by a home health aide only when a client has an acute, intermittent, short-term need for the services of a registered nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist who is employed by or under contract with a home health agency. These services are provided under the supervision of the previously identified authorized practitioners and include, but are not limited to, ambulation and exercise, assistance with self-administered medications, reporting changes in a client's condition and needs, and completing appropriate records.

"Home health skilled services" means skilled health care (nursing, specialized therapy, and home health aide) services provided on an intermittent or part-time basis by a medicare-certified home health agency with a current provider number in any setting where the client's normal life activities take place. See also WAC 182-551-2000.

"Long-term care" is a generic term referring to various programs and services, including services provided in home and community settings, administered directly or through contract by the department of social and health services' (DSHS) division of developmental disabilities (DDD) or aging and long-term support administration (ALTSA) through home and community services (HCS).

"Medical social services" are services delivered by a medical social worker that are intended to resolve social or emotional problems that are expected to be an impediment to the effective treatment of the client's medical condition or rate of recovery. Medical social services include assessment of the social and emotional factors related to the client's illness, need for care, response to treatment, and adjustment to care; evaluation of the client's home situation, financial resources, and availability of community resources; assistance in obtaining available community resources and financial resources; and counseling the client and family to address emotional issues related to the illness.

"Medical social worker" has the same meaning given for "social worker" in WAC 246-335-510.

"Plan of care (POC)" (also known as "plan of treatment (POT)") means a written plan of care that is established and periodically reviewed and signed by both an authorized practitioner and a home health agency provider. The plan describes the home health care to be provided in any setting where the client's normal life activities take place. See WAC 182-551-2210.

"Review period" means the three-month period the medicaid agency assigns to a home health agency, based on the address of the agency's main office, during which the medicaid agency reviews all claims submitted by that home health agency.

"Specialized therapy" means skilled therapy services provided to clients that include:

(a) Physical;

(b) Occupational; or

(See WAC 182-551-2110.)

"Telemedicine" - For the purposes of WAC 182-551-2000 through 182-551-2220, means the use of telemonitoring to enhance the delivery of certain home health skilled nursing services through:

(a) The collection and transmission of clinical data between a patient at a distant location and the home health provider through electronic processing technologies. Objective clinical data that may be transmitted includes, but is not limited to, weight, blood pressure, pulse, respirations, blood glucose, and pulse oximetry; or

(b) The provision of certain education related to health care services using audio, video, or data communication instead of a face-to-face visit.

PDFWAC 182-551-2010

Definitions.