Greviance Policy

Policy:

It is the policy of Apex Home Care to ensure that people served have the right to respectful and responsive services. We are committed to providing a simple complaint process for the people served in our programs and their authorized or legal representatives to bring grievances forward and have them resolved in a timely manner.

Procedures

1. Service initiation: A person receiving services and that person’s case manager will be notified of this policy and be provided a copy within five working days of service initiation.

2. How to file a grievance

   1. The person receiving services or the person’s authorized or legal representative should do the following to file a grievance:

   2. talk to a staff person that they feel comfortable with about their complaint or problem,

   3. clearly inform the staff person that they are filing a formal grievance and not just an informal complaint or problem, and

   4. optionally request staff assistance in filing a grievance.

   5. If the person or person’s authorized or legal representative does not believe that their grievance has been resolved, they may bring the complaint to the highest level of authority at Apex Home Care, the Program Coordinators, who may be reached by phone at 651-352-9910.

   6. Upon request, Apex Home Care staff will provide assistance with the complaint process to the service recipient and their authorized representative. This assistance will include the following:

      • The name, address, and telephone number of outside agencies to assist the person; and

      • responding to the complaint in such a manner that the service recipient or authorized representative’s concerns are resolved.

3. Receipt of grievance: Once a complaint is received, Apex Home Care is required to complete a complaint review.

   1. The complaint review will include an evaluation of the following:

      • Whether related policy and procedures were followed;

      • whether related policy and procedures were adequate;

      • whether there is a need for additional staff training;

      • whether the complaint is similar to past complaints with the persons, staff, or services involved; and

      • whether there is a need for corrective action by the license holder to protect the health and safety of persons receiving services.

   2. Based on this review, the license holder must develop, document, and implement a corrective action plan designed to correct current lapses and prevent future lapses in performance by staff or the license holder, if any.

   3. Apex Home Care will provide a written summary of the complaint and a notice of the complaint resolution to the person who filed the grievance and that person’s case manager. This summary will contain the following:

      • Identification of the nature of the complaint and the date it was received;

      • the results of the complaint review; and

      • identification of the complaint resolution, including any corrective action.

   4. The complaint summary and resolution notice must be maintained in the person’s record.

4. Response and resolution

   1. Apex Home Care will respond promptly to grievances that affect the health and safety of service recipients.

   2. All other complaints will be responded to within 14 calendar days of the receipt of the complaint.

   3. All complaints will be resolved within 30 calendar days of the receipt.

   4. If the complaint is not resolved within 30 calendar days, Apex Home Care will document the reason for the delay and a plan for resolution