We’ve been reviewing various steps along the process to get your long-term care business up and running [catch up by clicking here] and this installment concerns your comprehensive policies & procedures, or P&P. P&P are a big, tangible step toward your licensure survey, where the surveyor will ensure you have the minimum framework to operate your LTC business within the confines of state and other regulations. Although your survey is a blip in time where P&P will be reviewed, don’t underestimate your P&Ps’ true value in the soundness of your operation after the survey.
P&P cover two important bases – first, is the “what” of the business: what are you required to do, such as the rules and guidelines under which you will work. Your policy & procedure manual is not merely a formality, like checking a box on a list of preparatory tasks. It’s (supposed to be) a living, breathing blueprint for how you operate within the framework of state, and in other cases, federal and accreditation requirements. This is the “how” aspect of your business.
To be sure, regulators want to know that you know the rules, but they also want to know that you know how you will make sure to follow those rules. Good policies & procedures don’t just regurgitate the what, but they establish the how in enough detail to make them a guide for your company managers. P&P should also include checks & balances for you as an agency owner or administrator to keep your business in compliance with all the rules. For example, AHCA doesn’t require audits, but we all know that as companies grow and add staff, it’s not enough to train people on the rules and hope they follow them.
Every manager must “Trust, but verify.” And the verification happens with documented spot-checks (more intimidatingly referred to as audits) so you can re-train personnel and tighten your processes as needed. And so, while establishing one of these in-demand healthcare businesses seems straightforward – and it is – don’t underestimate the need to have robust P&P so you can be fully conversant in all aspects of the rules and your operations prior to the survey.
As the title conveys, knowledge is power, so know the rules and just as importantly, know how your agency will demonstrate it can comply with them. To learn more about the AHCA licensure survey, read the next installment in this series.