General Orientation to Personal Assistance Program
What is a Personal Care Attendant? Personal Care Attendants (also known as a PCA) provide personal care and related paraprofessional services in accordance with an established plan of care. The PCA provides for the personal needs and comfort of clients in their home. The PCA might also do extended hours of care for a single or several clients in a home or assisted/ independent living facility.
Medicaid Program Basics Service Guidelines: Services are available only to consumers who reside at home or under certain circumstances in a licensed foster or group home. Service Limits: Typically, not more than 40 hours per week. Authorization for more than 40 hours can be approved and your manager will let you know if the care plan indicates this necessity.
Activities of Daily Living Tasks Bathing Dressing Grooming/Hygiene Toileting Transferring Positioning Mobility Meal Preparation -Menu Planning -Food Storage -Preparing and Serving Food -Eating Changing Linens Snow Removal (in order to maintain safe access to and from the home. Not every agency allows for PCA s to do this task.)
Task Guidelines Bathing: Drawing water in sink, basin or tub, hauling/heating water, laying out supplies, assisting in/out of tub/shower, sponge bathing and drying, bed bathing and drying, tub bathing and drying, standby assistance. Dressing: Dressing recipient, undressing recipient, laying out clothes, standby assistance. Hygiene: Shaving, brushing teeth, shaving underarms, and legs when client requests this it as a necessary grooming activity, laying out supplies, standby assistance, drying hair, combing/brushing hair, lotioning skin, washing face and hands, laying out supplies. Toileting: Changing depends, changing colostomy bag/emptying catheter bag, assisting on/off bedpan, assisting with use of urinal, assisting with feminine hygiene needs, assisting with clothing during toileting, assisting with toilet hygiene, standby assistance. Transfer: Consumer needs hands on assistance when rising to a standing position or moving into a wheelchair to prevent losing balance or falling. Consumer is able to help with the transfer by holding on, pivoting, and/or supporting himself. Positioning: Consumer requires consistent assist with positioning, but they are capable of participating in the task by holding on and/or helping to move themselves while being assisted. Adjusting/changing recipient s position in bed or chair.
Task Guidelines Continued.. Mobility: Consumer has considerable difficulty walking even with an assistive device. Consumer can walk only with assistance from another person. Consumer never walks alone outdoors without assistance. Consumer may use a wheelchair. Meal Preparation: Cooking full meal, warming up prepared food, planning meals, helping prepare meals, Cutting food for preparation, Serving food, Grinding and pureeing food, clean-up. Eating: Spoon feeding, bottle feeding, set up of utensils/adaptive devices, assistance with using eating or drinking utensils/adaptive devices, cutting up foods, standby assistance/encouragement. Exercise: Taking client for a walk, range of motion. Medication Assistance: Reminder to take medications. Household Tasks: Cleaning up after other personal assistance task, emptying and cleaning bedside commode, cleaning bathroom, changing bed linens, making bed, cleaning floor of living areas used by recipient, dusting, carrying out trash, setting out garbage for pick up, cleaning stove-top, counters, washing dishes, snow removal for the purpose of safe access. (1/3 Rule) Laundry: Doing hand wash, gathering and sorting, loading and unloading machines in residence, hanging clothes to dry, folding and putting away clothes.
Household Tasks Shall not include basic homemaking services that maintain an entire household or family Shopping Shopping is for items essential to the consumers health care or nutritional needs or exercise that is part of a daily routine for health purposes and is deemed medically necessary (i.e., prescribed by a health care professional) Shopping should only be provided when a family member or other informal care giver is unavailable. Shopping should be done at the nearest grocery store or pharmacy or in conjunction with a medical escort. If the consumer is to ill or homebound and another alternative does not exist, the personal assistant may pick up groceries and/or pharmaceuticals without consumer accompaniment under the shopping benefit. Shopping does not include going out to lunch, traveling to church, business meetings, or exercise programs not reimbursable by Medicaid. Laundry This is for the client s laundry only. Housekeeping Include assistance with activities related to housekeeping that are essential to maintain the consumer s health and safety in the home. Household tasks may not exceed one-third of the total personal assistance hours or a total of three hours per week.
Medical Escort Only available to those requiring personal assistance services en route to or at, the destination and when family or friend is unable to accompany them. Accompanying and assisting consumers on trips to obtain Medicaid reimbursable medical services in their community. Must be authorized on the Plan of Care (POC) Attendant time is payable outside the community only if state plan transportation authorizes the payment of mileage. Medical Escort is time above and beyond the profile authorization. Medical Escort is only provided within 20 miles of the clients home. If more than 20 miles the client will need to contact Medicaid Transportation.
Continuing Education Each Personal Care Attendant * must complete eight hours of continuing education yearly, following the year they complete the sixteen original hours of training. This training will be provided by your employer through inservices, and other educational information. *Certified Nurses Assistants are required to complete 12 hours of continuing education each year to maintain their certification.
Who are Mountain Pacific Quality Health (MPQH)? The Department of Public Health and Human Services contracts with MPQH to conduct authorizations. MPQH processes and captures paperwork in the state database such as, referrals, plans of care (POC), amendments, change in options, and discharges. The nurses at MPQH assess each client in their home environment. They observe and get to know the individuals needs and create a plan of care based on information collected from all sources.