New Law in florida blocking nurses from per-diem work

[scma]

Hello All,

I will make this short.

Recently the Pharmacy Manager of a Home Health Agency came into the office were I work and stated to myself and colleagues that "our company is always looking for nurses wanting to pick up a few hours". Of course in an age that gas is through the roof and a little extra income is golden, 4 of us applied to his company for per-diem work. We sent in the application and everything was rushed through and we set our orientation date and THEN. The DON goes to this meeting then calls me 7 times on friday. Once I finally called her back she is ****** stating that at her meeting she was informed that nurses that work full time in private practice COULD NOT work for any home health agency because it is against the law effective July 1 and comes with a $15,000 per visit fine. It has something to do with referrals and medicare fraud....

This is terrible!!! And not really fair. It was a great opportunity... WHAT NOW... I don't at all have the desire to go back to the hospital nor do nursing home work. Home IV infusions was the the best opportunity. I am chemotherapy certified so it was a golden opp.

Any info???

[cookie102]

wow, i have not heard of that law yet!!!!!! i have heard of indivual agencies stating in there policy manuals that a FT person can not work for another agency PRN, but never as a "law"

oh my,,,what are we to do if our present employer can't give us "extra" work????

[morte, LPN, LVN]

i would certainly validate the existence of the law, before i gave up the thought.....it would serve YOUR DON s purpose to keep you from working for anyone else to increase your availability....good luck

[tk3100]

Of course I am not from Florida, but I have never heard of such a law. My HH agency has a non-compete agreement they want you to sign upon employment. But I am not so sure than your DON hasn't told a complete untruth on this matter.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

yes, there is a new law in florida regarding homecare due to rampant referral fraud...will check my work info and get back to you.

ahca: licensed home health programs unit

memo on summary of law changes

ahca may deny, revoke or suspend the license of a hha and shall impose a fine of $5,000 against a hha that: (400.474(6), f.s.)

1. gives remuneration for staffing services to:

a. another hha with which it has formal or informal patient-referral transactions or arrangements, unless the hha’s emergency management plan is activated

b. a health care services pool (hcsp) with which it has formal or informal patient-referral transactions or arrangements, unless the hha’s emergency management plan is activated. (note: a hcsp cannot recruit patients and does not place personnel with patients. a hcsp only provides staffing to health care facilities and entities.)

this does not apply to a medicare-certified hha that provides fair market value remuneration for staffing services to a non-medicare-certified hha that is part of a continuing care facility licensed under chapter 651, f.s., for providing services to its own residents if each resident receiving home health services attests in writing that he or she made a decision without influence from staff of the facility to select, from a list of medicare-certified home health agencies provided by the facility, the medicare-certified hha to provide this service.

2. provides services to residents or staffing in an assisted living facility (alf) for which the hha does not receive fair market value remuneration

3. fails to provide ahca, upon request, with copies of all contracts with alfs which were executed within 5 years before the request.

4. gives remuneration to a: case manager, discharge planner, facility-based staff member, or 3rd party vendor who is involved in the discharge-planning process of a facility licensed under chapter 395 [hospital, ambulatory-surgical center] or chapter 400 [nursing home, home health agency, nurse registry, hospice] from who the hha receives referrals.

fine of $15,000 (400.518(4), f.s.)

if a home health agency provides nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, or other staff without charge to a facility licensed under chapter 429 (assisted living facility, adult day care, adult family care home) in return for patient referrals from the facility.”

if physicians from your practice/facility refer patients to the infusion company, then you are unable to work for them under the new law. otherwise there are no problems with you working for 2 different companies.