1. (a) A personal care services agency that manages an agency-based personal care services program shall retain a supervising licensed registered nurse that is qualified to practice under AS 08.68 or 7 AAC 105.200(c) to perform the following duties:

   1. (1) monitor the delivery of services by personal care assistants to ensure services are provided in accordance with the service level authorization for each recipient;

   2. (2) at least once every six months perform a review of each recipient's services, including

      1. (A) interviewing the recipient at the recipient's residence to evaluate whether services were provided as authorized, and that those services are sufficient to meet the recipient's continuing needs;
      2. (B) interviewing the recipient's personal care assistant to evaluate the service records and timesheets prepared by the recipient's personal care assistant;
      3. (C) documenting in the recipient's record the supervising registered nurse's conclusion whether the services were provided as stated and were consistent with the recipient's service level authorization under 7 AAC 125.024; and
      4. (D) submitting to the department amendments to the service level authorization under 7 AAC 125.024 and 7 AAC 125.026 when the recipient's needs change sufficiently to warrant an amendment;
   3. (3) place in the recipient's file written instructions regarding emergency situations that the personal care assistant might encounter;
   4. (4) maintain communications with the recipient, the recipient's health care providers as appropriate, and the personal care assistant;

   5. (5) maintain a service record for each recipient that includes

      1. (A) a copy of each service level authorization, assessment, and documentation of reviews under (a)(2) of this section, including amendments made under 7 AAC 125.026;
      2. (B) a copy of all personal care assistant timesheets signed by the recipient, the recipient's representative, or the representative's designee; and
      3. (C) records of all contacts with the recipient, the recipient's health care providers, and the personal care assistant.
2. (b) A supervising registered nurse under (a) of this section is subject to the reporting requirements of AS 47.17.020 and AS 47.24.010.

3. (c) The department may waive the requirement that the review under (a)(2) of this section occur every six months if

   1. (1) the recipient's residence is in a remote community or location;
   2. (2) the supervising registered nurse performs in accordance with (a)(2) of this section a review of the recipient's services at least once in a 12-month period;
   3. (3) instead of the omitted six-month review, the agency conducts, at the time the six-month review would occur, a telephonic or electronic meeting by the supervising registered nurse with the recipient and the recipient's personal care assistant for the review of services; and
   4. (4) the agency requests a waiver in a format provided by the department, and documents to the department's satisfaction that waiving one of the six-month reviews will not compromise the health, safety, or welfare of the recipient.

(Eff. 2/1/2010, Register 193; am 1/26/2012, Register 201; am 7/22/2017, Register 223)

Authority: AS 47.05.010, AS 47.07.030