N.J. Admin. Code § 8:33H-1.6

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 8:33H-1.6 - Specialized long-term care

(a) For the purposes of this chapter, specialized long-term care shall include the following categories:

1. Ventilator care for adult patients; and

2. Care of residents with severe behavior management problems, such as combative, aggressive, and disruptive behaviors.

(b) A Certificate of Need shall be required for the establishment of a new specialized care program, including the conversion of general long-term care beds for specialized care use, or for the expansion of an existing specialized care program. The Certificate of Need applicant shall identify the type of specialized care residents who will be admitted to the proposed nursing facility beds in accordance with the categories identified in (a) above. Specialized care beds shall be dedicated for exclusive use by the type or types of specialized care residents identified in the approval letter.

1. Certificate of Need approval shall be required in the event that an applicant intends to occupy specialized care beds with residents who do not require specialized care or residents who do not require the type of specialized care which was identified in the applicant's Certificate of Need. An application for the conversion of specialized care beds for some other use shall comply with the requirements in 8:33H-1.13(f).

(c) Specialized care beds shall be approved to meet a need in a planning region as defined in 8:33H-1.2. The applicant shall document how access to the unit's services shall be assured for residents throughout the planning region.

(d) The number of new beds needed in each planning region for long-term ventilator care shall be determined in the following manner:

1. On a periodic basis (that is, at least once every five years), the Department shall conduct a survey of acute care hospitals, special hospitals, and other health care facilities at a particular point in time to identify all patients who are medically ready for discharge and who are in need of transfer to a facility that provides long-term ventilator care;

2. Through the survey, the number of patients shall be counted for each planning region;

3. The projected rate of growth in the population age 20 and over in each regional health systems area shall be calculated using the most recent New Jersey Department of Labor population projections, covering the four-year period from the time a Certificate of Need application is accepted for processing up to the target year. The number of patients in each planning region requiring ventilator care, as identified through the survey, shall then be adjusted (that is, multiplied) by the aforementioned, region-specific adult population growth rate. The latter product shall then be added to the number of patients in the regional service area requiring each type of specialized care:

Number of Patients	Region-Specific	Number of Patients
Requiring Ventilator	x	Growth Rate,	+	Requiring Ventilator
Care, Per Survey	Population Age 20+	Care, Per Survey;

4. The projected number of patients in each planning region requiring ventilator care as derived in (d)3 above, shall then be adjusted (that is, divided by a factor of .85) to allow for a projected occupancy rate of at least 85 percent, in accordance with (i) below.

(e) A formal methodology shall not be used to determine the number of beds needed for the specialized care of residents with severe behavior management problems. However, in the interest of promoting improved access to high quality care for these residents whose needs cannot safely and effectively be met in general long-term care facilities, the Commissioner shall give consideration to approving one model program in each planning region. Model programs may be approved providing that the following requirements are met, in addition to all other applicable requirements of this chapter:

1. The applicant shall document to the satisfaction of the Department that the number of beds proposed is reasonable with respect to the need for specialized long-term care for residents with severe behavior management problems in the planning region. However, no more than 32 beds in any one nursing home in each planning region shall be approved for a model program. Protecting individuals' identities, the applicant shall provide resident-specific data to demonstrate that there is a sufficient number of individuals residing in the planning region who could meet the model program's admission criteria at the time of application submission, in order to fill 85 percent of the proposed number of beds in the model program. Resident specific data shall include each individual's age, sex, county of residence, diagnoses, functional impairments, current placement, and reasons why the current placement is inappropriate;

2. The facility shall develop and maintain a collaborative affiliation with at least one school of nursing which grants baccalaureate and/or master's degrees in nursing, one school of social work, and one medical school, for the purpose of providing ongoing clinical training and research on site in the specialized care unit;

3. The model program shall include a formal research and program evaluation component. The applicant shall describe in detail how patient care outcomes will be evaluated by an independent party or organization. A report of this evaluation shall be submitted to the Department within three years of licensure of the approved beds. In view of the fact that Medicaid does not reimburse for research-related expenses, the applicant shall identify funding sources and otherwise explain how the costs of research will be covered;

4. The application shall include admission and discharge criteria which assure that the most difficult-to-manage residents in the regional service area shall receive priority for placement in the model program;

5. The application shall include a detailed plan describing how continuity of care will be assured for residents who are admitted to and discharged from the model program. The facility in which the model program will be located shall have available at all times a reasonable number of beds in other nursing units within the facility in order to allow for the transfer of residents who are no longer in need of specialized care as it is offered in the model program. Furthermore, the applicant shall specify how other nursing homes throughout the planning region shall be involved in assuring continuity of care for residents who are admitted to and discharged from the model program;

6. The facility shall develop and maintain an ongoing program whereby designated staff members are available to offer other area health care facilities in the planning area training, educational seminars, and technical assistance in the care of residents with severe behavior management problems;

7. The model program shall conduct multidisciplinary team meetings on a regular basis for the purpose of establishing and reviewing each resident's plan of care; the multidisciplinary team shall include staff members involved in direct resident care on the unit, such as physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, activities therapists, and so forth. The certificate of need application shall document how the multidisciplinary team will promote innovative approaches to care for residents with severe behavior management problems; and

8. The special care unit shall have a medical director with demonstrated expertise in the care of adult residents with behavior management problems.

(f) The establishment, addition, or conversion of beds for either types of specialized care shall be approved only in those cases where the facility will have one or more distinct and separate nursing units which treat exclusively residents who require the type of specialized care for which the facility receives Certificate of Need approval.

(g) All applicants for specialized care beds shall provide the following, to the satisfaction of the Department:

1. A detailed description of the services and program of care that will be provided;

2. Specific admission and discharge criteria for the proposed unit, which clearly identify the types of residents who will be treated in the specialized care beds;

3. A specific plan to provide in-service training for nursing staff and others who will work with specialized care residents, including an orientation program for new staff members, ongoing in-service education, and opportunities to pursue advanced education and certification in the appropriate clinical specialties;

4. A description of physical plant considerations and special architectural features of the proposed unit as well as an identification of any special equipment that will be installed in order to accommodate residents' needs;

5. A signed transfer agreement with at least one acute care hospital with a licensed capacity of at least 200 beds to which specialized care residents can be transferred within 30 minutes total travel time for the purpose of receiving emergency medical treatment, if the proposed specialized care unit will not be located within an acute care hospital. The applicant shall submit documentation of the reasons why a particular hospital was chosen for the transfer agreement, including a description of the hospital's resources and capability to address the needs of patients requiring the applicable type of specialized care; and

6. A specific plan to provide coordination and continuity of care for residents who may be discharged from the proposed specialized care beds when this is feasible and beneficial to the patient/family/significant other. Supporting documentation for the plan may include signed transfer agreements or referral arrangements with licensed home health agencies and other health care facilities in the nursing home's regional service area which maintain the resources and capability to offer follow-up specialized care.

(h) In the case of specialized care units proposing to treat ventilator dependent residents, the facility shall provide staffing for the nursing unit on which the ventilator beds are located that includes the 24 hour per day presence on the unit of at least one registered nurse and the 24 hour per day on-call availability of at least one respiratory therapist. In addition, the facility shall comply with licensure staffing requirements that are applicable to the care of ventilator-dependent residents.

(i) The minimum desired annual occupancy rate for specialized care units shall be 85 percent.

(j) In cases where there are two or more competing applications for specialized long-term care beds in the same health systems area, the prioritization criteria contained in 8:33H-1.19(e) shall be used in determining which applications should be approved or denied.

N.J. Admin. Code § 8:33H-1.6

Amended by R.2004 d.354, effective 9/20/2004.
See: 36 N.J.R. 1641(a), 36 N.J.R. 4306(a).
Substituted references to "residents" for references to "patients" and references to "planning" for references to "LAB" throughout.