Alabama Administrative Code › Title 420 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH › Chapter 420-5-10 - NURSING FACILITIES › Section 420-5-10-.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1)
Definitions
- (a list of selected terms often used in connection
			 with these rules):
(a) "AAC Rule" - Alabama
			 Administrative Code Rule.
(b)
			 "These Rules" - Rules
			 420-5-10-.01 through
			 420-5-10-.11, Chapter 420-5-10,
			 Nursing Facilities, Alabama Administrative Code.
(c) "Accredited Medical Record Technician
			 (ART)" - A person trained in record maintenance and preservation, and
			 accredited by the American Health Information Management Association.
(d) "Administrator" - A person who holds a
			 valid Alabama Nursing Home Administrator's license who is delegated the
			 responsibility and authority for the interpretation, implementation, and proper
			 application of policies and programs established by the governing authority.
			 The Administrator is delegated responsibility for the establishment of safe and
			 effective administrative management, control and operation of the services
			 provided.
(e) "Advisory Board" -
			 See Section
			 22-21-27 of Appendix A.
(f) "Applicant" - The person, partnership,
			 corporation, association, city, county, or other organization legally
			 responsible for operation of the facility.
(g) "Assisted Living Facility" - A facility
			 as defined in the Rules of Alabama State Board of Health, Division of Licensure
			 and Certification, Chapter 420-5-4.
(h) "Board or State Board of Health" - The
			 Alabama State Board of Health.
(i)
			 "Combination Facility" - A facility which provides more than one level of care
			 and is licensed under one license, e.g., general hospital and skilled nursing
			 facility, skilled nursing facility and assisted living facility.
(j) "Communicable" - Conditions that are
			 capable of being transmitted from one person to another. For reporting
			 purposes, nursing facilities shall refer to the Notifiable Disease Case Report,
			 Alabama Department of Public Health, Form ADPH-EPI-22/Rev. 1-88 (exception
			 AIDS).
(k) "Dentist" - A person
			 currently licensed to practice dentistry in Alabama under the provisions of
			 current state statutes.
(l)
			 "Director of Food Services/Dietary Manager" - A who is a full-time employee,
			 and if not a qualified dietitian, is one who:
(1) is a graduate of a dietary manager's
			 training program, approved by the Dietary Manager's Association, or
(2) is a graduate of a dietetic technician
			 program approved by the American Dietetic Association, or
(3) is a graduate from a college or
			 university who has received a B.S. degree in the field of dietetics, food and
			 nutrition or food service management which included course work in diet therapy
			 and quantity food production.
(m) "Duly Licensed and/or Registered" - The
			 person to whom the term is applied is duly licensed and/or registered by the
			 proper authority to follow his or her profession within the State of Alabama,
			 and when applied to an institution, shall mean that the institution is duly
			 licensed by the State Board of Health.
(n) "Governing Authority" - Owner(s),
			 hospital association, county hospital board, board of directors, board of
			 trustees, or any other comparable designation of an individual or group of
			 individuals who have the purpose of owning, acquiring, constructing, equipping,
			 operating, and/or maintaining a nursing facility and exercising control over
			 the affairs of said nursing facility.
(o) "Hospital" - A facility as defined in the
			 Rules of Alabama State Board of Health, Division of Licensure and
			 Certification, Chapter 420-5-7.
(p)
			 "Independent Clinical Laboratory" - A facility as defined in the Rules of
			 Alabama State Board of Health, Division of Licensure and Certification, Chapter
			 420-5-8.
(q) "License" - The
			 document issued by the State Board of Health and signed by the State Health
			 Officer. The license shall constitute the authority to receive residents and
			 perform the services included within the scope of the applicable rules. The
			 license shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises.
(r) "Licensed Practical Nurse" - A person
			 currently licensed in the State of Alabama in accordance with the
Code
			 of Alabama
.
(s) "Licensee"
			 - The individual owner, partnership, corporation, association, city, county or
			 other organization to whom the license is issued and upon whom rests the
			 responsibility for compliance with these rules.
(t) "Long Term Care" - Prolonged care of
			 residents in licensed institutions and/or organized departments within a
			 licensed institution where the average length of resident stay is 25 days or
			 longer.
(u) "May" indicates
			 permission.
(v) "Medical Laboratory
			 Technician" - A person who meets at least one of the following requirements:
(i) Successful completion of two years of
			 academic study (a minimum of 60 semester hours or equivalent) in an accredited
			 college or university with an associate degree in Medical Technology, or four
			 years of academic study with a bachelor degree in Medical Technology;
			 or
(ii) Graduation from high school
			 and, subsequent to graduation, has had two years of documented experience as a
			 technician trainee in a clinical laboratory of a hospital, a health department,
			 a university, or a medical research institution or in a clinical laboratory
			 providing equivalent training accepted by the State Board of Health as defined
			 under "Independent Clinical Laboratory" (420-5-10-.01(1)(p);
			 or
(iii) Graduation from high
			 school and successful completion of an official military laboratory procedures
			 course of at least twelve calendar months of study and has had at least one
			 year of experience as a technician trainee in a clinical laboratory of a
			 hospital, a health department, a university, or a medical research institution
			 or in a clinical laboratory providing equivalent training accepted by the State
			 Board of Health.
(iv) Achieve a
			 satisfactory grade on a proficiency examination for technologists approved by
			 the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(w) "Medical Staff" - Licensed physicians,
			 osteopaths and dentists who are privileged by agreement with the licensee to
			 attend to residents within the institution.
(x) "Medication" - All substances having
			 medicinal properties intended for external and/or internal use for the
			 treatment, prevention, diagnosing or curing of any disease, illness, malady,
			 etc., in humans. The term "medication" as defined in the Pharmacological Basis
			 of Therapeutics and shall encompass all other synonymous terms such as drugs,
			 biologicals, chemicals, potions, remedies, or poisons.
(y) "Medicine or Drug Room" - A specific
			 area, not subject to licensure by the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy, in a
			 licensed nursing facility, used for the purpose of storing and/or preparing
			 medications for administration and equipment necessary to administer
			 medications to the residents of that facility.
(z) "Nurse Aide" - Any individual providing
			 nursing related services to residents in a facility who is not a licensed
			 health professional, a registered dietitian, or someone who volunteers to
			 provide such services without pay.
(aa) "Nursing Facility" - A business entity
			 that is engaged in providing housing, meals and care to sick or disabled
			 individuals who require, on a daily basis or more frequently, medical care,
			 nursing care, or rehabilitation services. This definition shall not include any
			 business, operation, or facility that is exempt from licensure pursuant to
			 Alabama law, nor shall it include any business, operation, or facility that is
			 (1) licensed by the Alabama State Board of Health as another kind of facility,
			 and (2) functioning within the scope of applicable law and administrative
			 rules.
(bb) "Owner" - The person,
			 partnership, corporation, association, city, county, or other entity who
			 through asset ownership, lease or sublease is entitled to responsibility for
			 and control of operation of the facility.
(cc) "Resident Activities Consultant" - A
			 person who:
(i) Is registered or meets
			 requirements for registration as a professional level Therapeutic Recreation
			 Specialist by the National Recreation and Park Association; or
(ii) Is a qualified occupational therapist or
			 occupational therapy assistant; or
(iii) Has two years of experience in a social
			 or recreations program within the past five years, one year of which was full
			 time in a resident activities program in a health care setting.
(dd) "Resident Activities
			 Coordinator" - A person who is registered or meets the requirements for a
			 resident activities consultant or a person who serves under the supervision of
			 a qualified resident activities consultant or has the equivalent of two years
			 of full-time experience, under the supervision of a qualified resident
			 activities consultant.
(ee)
			 "Pharmacist" - A person currently licensed to practice pharmacy in Alabama
			 under the provisions contained in current state statutes and rules of the
			 Alabama State Board of Pharmacy.
(ff) "Pharmacist Consultant" - A person
			 currently licensed and registered by the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy to
			 provide consultative services as defined by current state statutes and rules of
			 the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy.
(gg) "Pharmacy" - A place licensed by the
			 Alabama State Board of Pharmacy in which prescriptions, drugs, medicines,
			 chemicals, and poisons are sold, offered for sale, compounded or dispensed, and
			 shall include all places whose title may imply the sale, offering for sale,
			 compounding or dispensing of prescription drugs, medicines, chemicals, or
			 poisons or the storage of such items.
(hh) "Physician" - A person currently
			 licensed to practice medicine and/or surgery in Alabama under the provisions
			 contained in current state statutes.
(ii) "Qualified Dietetic Consultant" - A
			 person who is eligible for registration by the Commission on Dietetic
			 Registration (CDR), has at least one year of full-time experience in the
			 dietetic service of a health care institution in a supervisory capacity, or has
			 satisfactorily completed the test for registration administered by CDR and
			 meets the annual requirements in continuing education required by
			 CDR.
(jj) "Qualified Dietitian" - A
			 person currently licensed in the State of Alabama in accordance with the
			 provisions contained in current state statutes as governed by the Alabama Board
			 of Examiners for Dietetic/Nutrition Practice.
(kk) "Registered Nurse" - A person registered
			 and currently licensed in the State of Alabama in accordance with the
			 provisions contained in current state statutes.
(ll) "Registered Records Administrator (RRA)"
			 - A person skilled in record maintenance and preservation, and who is
			 registered by the American Medical Record Association.
(mm) "Rehabilitation" - An organized or
			 well-defined program of therapeutics designed to help residents overcome
			 physical, social, vocational or economic limitations as a result of a
			 disability. Rehabilitation includes helping residents to reach the highest
			 functional level of physical, psychological and socio-economic adjustment
			 compatible with their disability.
(nn) "Resident" - A person admitted to a
			 nursing facility by and upon the order of a physician.
(oo) "Shall" indicates mandatory
			 requirements.
(pp) "Skilled Nursing
			 Facility" - A facility providing skilled nursing and other related services
			 which meets the Alabama State Board of Health's Rules for Nursing
			 Facilities.
(qq) "Social Service
			 Consultant" - An individual who meets the requirements of and is certified by
			 the State of Alabama Board of Social Work Examiners.
(rr) "Social Service Designee" - A person
			 employed by a facility with less than 120 beds on a full-time basis to meet the
			 Social Service needs of residents. These persons must have a minimum of a
			 G.E.D. or High School Diploma and have experience in dealing with the
			 public.
(ss) "Social Worker" - A
			 person who has either a Baccalaureate of Social Work or Masters of Social Work
			 degree and is licensed in accordance with the
Code of
			 Alabama
.
(tt) "Therapist"
			 - A professionally trained and/or duly licensed and/or registered person, when
			 required by state statutes, (such as physical therapist, occupational
			 therapist, speech therapist, respiratory therapist, audiologist, etc.) who is
			 skilled in the application of treatment techniques and procedures to residents
			 under the general direction of a physician.
(uu) "Training and Abuse Registry"
(i) Abuse or Neglect or Misappropriation of
			 Resident Property. The Department of Public Health shall establish and maintain
			 such registry. The registry shall provide for the inclusion of specific
			 documented findings by the Alabama Department of Public Health of resident
			 neglect or abuse or misappropriation of resident property by any individual
			 used by a nursing facility, as well as any brief statement of the individual
			 disputing the findings. In the case of inquiries to the registry concerning an
			 individual listed in the registry, any information disclosed concerning such a
			 finding shall also include disclosure of any such statement in the registry
			 relating to the finding or a clear and accurate summary of such a statement.
			 Individuals must be notified in writing prior to the inclusion of findings in
			 the registry and allowed the opportunity for a hearing in the event the
			 individual disputes the findings.
(ii) Nurse Aide Training. The names and
			 addresses of all nurse aides who attended an approved training program and who
			 have successfully passed the approved competency evaluation will be included on
			 the registry. The only exception of the requirement for attendance at an
			 approved training program is those nurses' aides who are hired by a nursing
			 facility prior to July 1, 1989, and who successfully pass the approved
			 competency evaluation prior to January 1, 1990.
(vv) "Health Care Professional" - A
			 physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, physical, speech or
			 occupational therapist; physical or occupational therapy assistant; registered
			 professional nurse; licensed practical nurse; licensed or certified social
			 worker, or dietitian.
(ww) "Special
			 Focus Facility" (SFF) - A federally certified nursing facility that has been
			 identified as one with a noteworthy history of poor performance and is
			 involuntarily enrolled in a special program with increased oversight and
			 enhanced enforcement activity designed to stimulate improvements in quality of
			 care and quality of life. Once selected as an SFF, the Alabama Department of
			 Public Health conducts twice the number of standard surveys and applies
			 progressive enforcement until the nursing home either (a) graduates from the
			 SFF program or (b) their provider agreement with Medicare/Medicaid is
			 terminated.