How to Become a Licensed Home Health Agency in Michigan

Home health agencies are organizations that provide skilled nursing services—excluding mental health services—to patients in their homes, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the U.S. agency that oversees these organizations. Although CMS oversees the overall certification process for home health agencies in the U.S., it requires state health departments to regulate the agencies within each state. Becoming a licensed home health agency in Michigan involves working through the federal certification process with regulators from the Michigan Department of Community Health in four main steps.

Instructions

• 1

  Complete required application forms. Complete an initial Medicare enrollment application with background and financial information about your home health agency and submit it to Michigan’s fiscal intermediary—National Government Services—which performs the initial review of Michigan home health agency applications. You should also complete health insurance benefit agreement forms, home health agency survey report, an application for data collection testing and Medicare-specific forms about finance, billing and civil rights disclosure. Copies of all of these forms are available on the Michigan Department of Community Health website (www.michigan.gov/mdch).

• 2

  Begin the process for OASIS testing. A Michigan home health agency that has submitted all application forms and associated documentation can sign up for evaluative tests that ensure the agency’s ability to use the OASIS system of data collection. CMS and all state departments of health use a standardized computer system to track information about home health patients, their usage of services and their health outcomes. Part of the process of certification as an approved home health provider includes making sure that the home health agency can not only use the OASIS system but that transmission of data to CMS and the Michigan Department of Community Health can occur seamlessly.

• 3

  Contact accrediting agencies for initial survey. Ordinarily, CMS depends on the local state health department to evaluate home health agencies through an on-site survey that checks agency staff, offices and resources; however, the Michigan Department of Community Health notes that budget constraints prevent it from performing surveys. Instead, Michigan home health agencies should contact one of three national accrediting agencies—the Joint Commission, Community Health Accreditation Program or Accreditation Commission for Health Care—to set up an accreditation survey. Although standards vary based on which accrediting agency you select, generally accreditation surveys seek to ensure that an agency has well-trained, expert staff, sufficient resources and that the agency follows all applicable laws or regulations in caring for patients.

• 4

  Obtain recommendation from the Michigan Department of Community Health. A Michigan home health agency with positive accreditation survey results and completed application documents should submit all information to the Michigan Department of Community Health for final review. A positive review yields a recommendation from the state authority to CMS for approval and licensing as a certified home health agency.