Long-Term Care Provider Associations Meet with DOH

(Dec. 16, 2025) LeadingAge NY met with the Department of Health (DOH) and other long-term care provider associations last week. Please note the following issues of interest:

HERDS Platform Change. The Department shared that they are changing the platform for Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) reporting for all providers in early 2026. Adult care facilities (ACFs) and nursing homes will migrate to the new "Smart Forms" application in February. Certified home health agencies (CHHAs) and hospices will move over in March, and licensed home care services agencies (LHCSAs) will then follow. DOH will hold training sessions for providers. It was suggested that admission forms already required for adult homes should not be included in this report.

The new platform will allow users to upload Excel files for some data points, reducing the time spent on manual entries. However, the upload capability will not be functional until April. This new format will be similar to Drupal and will be able to be saved if the reporting entity needs to complete it in multiple sittings. LeadingAge NY echoed others in questioning the necessity of the reporting and urged reducing the cadence of the reporting.

The Department recently changed HERDS reporting for LHCSAs to include patient counts per county, including requiring reporting of zero cases when a LHCSA is not delivering care in a county for which they are licensed. DOH will be sharing this collected data soon on Health Data NY. This information might be helpful to providers considering establishing a new LHCSA or adding service areas to their current license.

Criminal History Record Checks. DOH will also be issuing a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) soon on rules and responsibilities of providers and the Criminal History Record Check (CHRC) process. They said that agencies are prohibited from contracting out this process to a third-party entity when hiring staff. Agency staff must complete the process. CHRC program questions may be emailed to CHRC@health.state.ny.us, and CHRC legal questions may be emailed to CHRCLEGAL@health.state.ny.us.

Reporting Requirements. The Department shared the LHCSA and Assisted Living Program (ALP) LHCSA Statistical Report upcoming deadline of Dec. 31, 2025. The Department is firm on this deadline. See LeadingAge NY's Intelligence article here.

For LHCSAs and ALP LHCSAs late in completing this report:

A $500 fine will be assessed for each month, or part of a month, that the LHCSA is not registered.
LHCSAs that are not registered will not be allowed to operate until they become registered.
The Department may revoke the license of any LHCSA that fails to register timely for two years, not necessarily consecutively.

The Department also shared the posting of the 2024 Hospice Cost and Utilization Reports & 2024 CHHA and Long-Term Home Health Care Program (LTHHCP) Statistical Report/Cost and Utilization Reports. The deadline for reporting is March 6, 2026.

DOH Lunch and Learns. The Department also shared upcoming Lunch and Learn dates. On Dec. 17, 2025 from 12-1 p.m., there will be a presentation on NY Connects/No Wrong Door System from invited guest Erin Verdile, Director of the NY Connects No Wrong Door System that is overseen by the NYS Office for the Aging (NYSOFA). Ms. Verdile has contributed to the operation and expansion of NY Connects since its inception in 2006 and has served as project director for various federal grants and statewide initiatives within the Division of Policy, Planning, Program, and Outcomes at NYSOFA. NY Connects is a locally based No Wrong Door System that provides one-stop access to free, objective, comprehensive information and assistance on long-term services and supports for people of all ages or with any type of disability. Please pre-register for the presentation here.

There will also be a Lunch and Lunch on Jan. 14, 2026 regarding the Money Follows the Person program. LeadingAge NY will post the registration for this event as soon as it is available.

Future Lunch and Learns are in development. The Department is in the process of developing a presentation on Plans of Correction for all home care agency types to cut down on repeat citations and help inform quality assurance and self-auditing, especially for ALP LHCSAs. They will start with patient care to ensure that quality is upheld. They also want to work with LHCSAs to educate them on survey and post-survey process so there is less back and forth submitting and resubmitting Plans of Correction. LeadingAge NY will be sure to share this new webinar when it is announced.

NHTD Waiver Cap Impact on MLTC. The Department also discussed a recent presentation made to Managed Long-Term Care (MLTC) plans regarding the Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) program. The NHTD program will soon have a cap on enrollment to bring it back to a budget-neutral state. This means that there will likely be fewer referrals to the program from MLTC plans. Plans are directed to exhaust all appropriate benefits in the MLTC program before referring enrollees to the NHTD program. The Department states that the NHTD program is a payor of last report within the Medicaid program.

Hospice Update. The Center for Hospice reported that they will provide education on hospice in the ALP after the new year. They will also be working on hospice contracts in Veterans Homes, having conversations with comfort homes regarding the difference between hospice and comfort care. They will also be working on issues to advance palliative care and will partner with the AIDS Institute to improve access to care. There was a Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form update in June 2025. The Center will update its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to match this resource and provide it in multiple languages for the public.

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org