Section 774. Personal emergency response system (PERS)

A. Service description. PERS is a service that monitors individual safety in the home and provides access to emergency assistance for medical or environmental emergencies through the provision of a two-way voice communication system that dials a 24-hour response or monitoring center upon activation and via the individual's home telephone line. PERS may also include medication monitoring devices.

B. Criteria. PERS may be authorized when there is no one else is in the home who is competent or continuously available to call for help in an emergency.

C. Service units and service limitations.

1. A unit of service shall include administrative costs, time, labor, and supplies associated with the installation, maintenance, monitoring, and adjustments of the PERS. A unit of service is one-month rental price set by DMAS. The one-time installation of the unit includes installation, account activation, individual and caregiver instruction, and removal of PERS equipment.

2. PERS services must be capable of being activated by a remote wireless device and be connected to the individual's telephone line. The PERS console unit must provide hands-free voice-to-voice communication with the response center. The activating device must be waterproof, automatically transmit to the response center an activator low battery alert signal prior to the battery losing power, and be able to be worn by the individual.

3. PERS cannot be used as a substitute for providing adequate supervision of the individual.

D. Provider requirements. In addition to meeting the general conditions and requirements for home and community-based care participating providers as specified in 12VAC30-120-730 and 12VAC30-120-740, providers must also meet the following requirements:

1. A PERS provider is a certified home health or personal care agency, a durable medical equipment provider, a hospital, or a PERS manufacturer that has the ability to provide PERS equipment, direct services (i.e., installation, equipment maintenance, and service calls), and PERS monitoring.

2. The PERS provider must provide an emergency response center staff with fully trained operators who are capable of receiving signals for help from an individual's PERS equipment 24 hours a day, 365, or 366 as appropriate, days per year; of determining whether an emergency exists; and of notifying an emergency response organization or an emergency responder that the PERS individual needs emergency help.

3. A PERS provider must comply with all applicable Virginia statutes, all applicable regulations of DMAS, and all other governmental agencies having jurisdiction over the services to be performed.

4. The PERS provider has the primary responsibility to furnish, install, maintain, test, and service the PERS equipment, as required to keep it fully operational. The provider shall replace or repair the PERS device within 24 hours of the individual's notification of a malfunction of the console unit, activating devices, or medication-monitoring unit while the original equipment is being repaired.

5. The PERS provider must properly install all PERS equipment into the functioning telephone line of an individual receiving PERS and must furnish all supplies necessary to ensure that the system is installed and working properly.

6. The PERS installation includes local seize line circuitry, which guarantees that the unit will have priority over the telephone connected to the console unit should the phone be off the hook or in use when the unit is activated.

7. A PERS provider must maintain all installed PERS equipment in proper working order.

8. A PERS provider must maintain a data record for each individual receiving PERS at no additional cost to DMAS. The record must document all of the following:

a. Delivery date and installation date of the PERS;

b. The signature of the individual or his family/caregiver, as appropriate, verifying receipt of PERS device;

c. Verification by a test that the PERS device is operational, monthly or more frequently as needed;

d. Updated and current individual responder and contact information, as provided by the individual or the individual's care provider, or case manager; and

e. A case log documenting the individual's utilization of the system and contacts and communications with the individual or his family/caregiver, as appropriate, case manager, or responder.

9. The PERS provider must have back-up monitoring capacity in case the primary system cannot handle incoming emergency signals.

10. Standards for PERS equipment. All PERS equipment must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission and meet the Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. (UL) safety standard Number 1635 for Digital Alarm Communicator System Units and Number 1637, which is the UL safety standard for home health care signaling equipment. The UL listing mark on the equipment will be accepted as evidence of the equipment's compliance with such standard. The PERS device must be automatically reset by the response center after each activation ensuring that subsequent signals can be transmitted without requiring manual reset by the individual.

11. A PERS provider must furnish education, data, and ongoing assistance to DBHDS and case managers to familiarize staff with the service, allow for ongoing evaluation and refinement of the program, and must instruct the individual, his family/caregiver, as appropriate, and responders in the use of the PERS service.

12. The emergency response activator must be activated either by breath, by touch, or by some other means, and must be usable by persons who have visual or hearing impairments or physical disabilities. The emergency response communicator must be capable of operating without external power during a power failure at the individual's home for a minimum period of 24 hours and automatically transmit a low battery alert signal to the response center if the back-up battery is low. The emergency response console unit must also be able to self-disconnect and redial the back-up monitoring site without the individual resetting the system in the event it cannot get its signal accepted at the response center.

13. Monitoring agencies must be capable of continuously monitoring and responding to emergencies under all conditions, including power failures and mechanical malfunctions. It is the PERS provider's responsibility to ensure that the monitoring agency and the agency's equipment meets the following requirements. The monitoring agency must be capable of simultaneously responding to multiple signals for help from multiple individuals' PERS equipment. The monitoring agency's equipment must include the following:

a. A primary receiver and a back-up receiver, which must be independent and interchangeable;

b. A back-up information retrieval system;

c. A clock printer, which must print out the time and date of the emergency signal, the PERS individual's identification code, and the emergency code that indicates whether the signal is active, passive, or a responder test;

d. A back-up power supply;

e. A separate telephone service;

f. A toll free number to be used by the PERS equipment in order to contact the primary or back-up response center; and

g. A telephone line monitor, which must give visual and audible signals when the incoming telephone line is disconnected for more than 10 seconds.

14. The monitoring agency must maintain detailed technical and operations manuals that describe PERS elements, including the installation, functioning, and testing of PERS equipment; emergency response protocols; and recordkeeping and reporting procedures.

15. The PERS provider shall document and furnish within 30 calendar days of the action taken a written report to the case manager for each emergency signal that results in action being taken on behalf of the individual. This excludes test signals or activations made in error.

16. The PERS provider is prohibited from performing any type of direct marketing activities.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 17, Issue 18, eff. July 1, 2001; amended, Virginia Register Volume 23, Issue 20, eff. July 11, 2007; Volume 30, Issue 14, eff. April 10, 2014.

Statutory Authority

§ 32.1-325 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 1396.