Written Policies and Procedures
Effective Jan 3, 2025M.G.L. c. 118E s. 7 M.G.L. c. 118E s. 12MassHealth
(A) Written Policies and Procedures. The medical respite provider must have and adhere to written policies and procedures that include:
- (1) a statement of its philosophy and objectives and of the geographic area served;
- (2) an intake policy, including eligible referring acute care hospitals and screening individuals for eligibility;
- (3) admission procedures;
- (4) service delivery procedures, including, but not limited to, development of members’ individualized care plans, case assignment, case review, and discharge planning;
- (5) a referral policy, including procedures for ensuring coordinated member care;
- (6) recordkeeping policies, including what information must be included in each record, and procedures to ensure confidentiality;
- (7) personnel and management policies, including policies for hiring, training, evaluation, supervision, and termination protocol for all staff;
- (8) conflict of interest policies;
- (9) managing safety in the medical respite setting, including policies on weapon use and substance use;
- (10) managing planned and unplanned medical and non-medical leaves of absence;
- (11) managing urgent and emergent clinical issues;
- (12) discharge procedures, including when there are leaves of absence and when the member’s medical respite service period is ending; and
- (13) a written procedure for managing, reporting, responding to incidents, including member falls and proactive approaches to prevent future related incidents.