Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-23 - Radiology, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, pathology, hospital, chiropractic, physical therapy, drugless therapeutics and nursing-Drugless therapeutics, etc › ATTENDANT SERVICES › Section 296-23-246 - Attendant services

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
What are
				attendant services?
Attendant services are proper and necessary personal
				care services provided to maintain the injured worker in his or her
				residence.
(2)
Who may
				receive attendant services?
Workers who are temporarily or permanently
				totally disabled and rendered physically helpless by the nature of their
				industrial injury or occupational disease may receive attendant
				services.
(3)
Is prior
				authorization required for attendant services?
Yes. To be covered by the
				department, attendant services must be requested by the attending physician and
				authorized by the department before care begins.
(4)
What attendant services does the
				department cover?
The department covers proper and necessary attendant
				services that are provided consistent with the injured worker's needs,
				abilities and safety. Only attendant services that are necessary due to the
				physical restrictions caused by the accepted industrial injury or occupational
				disease are covered.
The following are examples of attendant services that may be
				  covered:
Bathing and personal hygiene;
Dressing;
Administration of medications;
Specialized skin care, including changing or caring for
				  dressings or ostomies;
Tube feeding;
Feeding assistance (not meal preparation);
Mobility assistance, including walking, toileting and other
				  transfers;
Turning and positioning;
Bowel and incontinent care; and
Assistance with basic range of motion exercises.
Services the department considers everyday environmental
				  needs, unrelated to the medical care of the worker are not covered. The
				  following chore services are examples of services that are not covered:
				  Housecleaning, laundry, shopping, meal planning and preparation, transportation
				  of the injured worker, errands for the injured worker, recreational activities,
				  yard work, and child care.
(5)
Who may provide attendant services?
Attendant services provided on
				or after June 1, 2002, must be provided through an agency licensed, certified
				or registered to provide home care or home health services.
EXCEPTION:
A worker who received department approved attendant
								services from a spouse prior to October 1, 2001, may continue to receive
								attendant services from that spouse as long as all of the following criteria
								are met.
The attendant service spouse provider:
(a) Had an active provider account with the
								department on September 30, 2001; and
(b) Maintains an active provider account with the
								department; and
(c) Remains legally married to the injured worker;
								and
(d) Allows the department or its designee to
								perform periodic independent nursing evaluations in the worker's
								residence.
(6)
What are the treatment limits for attendant services?
The
				department will determine the maximum hours of authorized attendant care
				services based on an independent nursing assessment of the worker's care needs.
Spouses eligible to provide attendant services are limited to
				  a maximum of seventy hours of attendant services per week or to the maximum
				  hours authorized for the worker, whichever is less. Workers who are receiving
				  attendant services from spouses and whose care needs exceed seventy hours per
				  week must receive attendant services in excess of seventy hours from an agency
				  eligible to provide attendant services.
EXCEPTION:
The department may exempt a spouse from the
								seventy-hour limit if, after review by the department and based on independent
								nursing assessment:
(a) The injured worker is receiving proper and
								necessary care; and
(b) The worker's care needs exceed seventy hours
								per week; and
(c) No eligible agency provider is
								available.
(7)
Will the department review attendant services?
Yes. The department
				or its designee will perform periodic independent nursing evaluations of
				attendant services. Evaluations may include, but are not limited to, on-site
				review of the injured worker and review of medical records.
Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 51.04.020. 03-21-069, recodified as §
					 296-23-246, filed 10/14/03, effective 12/1/03. Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					  51.04.020,
					 51.04.030,
					 51.32.060,
					 51.32.072, and
					 7.68.070. 01-18-041, §
					 296-20-303, filed 8/29/01, effective
					 10/1/01.