About Licensed Home Care Services Agencies

Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSAs) offer home care services to clients who pay privately or have private insurance coverage. These agencies may also contract to provide services to Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries whose cases are managed by another provider or entity, such as providing home health aide services to a certified home health agency patient or providing a licensed practical nurse for a Medicaid prior-approved private duty nursing shift. The NYS Department of Health is responsible for monitoring the care provided by licensed care services agencies.

LHCSA Registration (Public Health Law Section 3605-b):

No licensed home care services agency shall be operated, provide nursing services, home health aide services, or personal care services, or receive reimbursement from any source for the provision of such services during any period on or after January 1, 2019, unless it has registered with the Department of Health.

A LHCSA that fails to submit a complete and accurate set of all required registration materials by the established deadline shall be required to pay of fee of $500 for each month or part thereof that the LHCSA is in default. A LHCSA that failed to register in the prior year by the deadline of the current year shall not be permitted to register for the upcoming registration period unless it submits any unpaid late fees.

A listing of LHCSAs and their current registration status may be found here:  https://health.data.ny.gov/Health/Licensed-Home-Care-Services-Agency-Registration-St/32ag-5q2y

Quality measurement data are not currently available for this provider type. However, the Department of Health conducts periodic surveys and investigates complaints at these agencies. If there are findings that a violation of rules and regulations exist during such activities, a written report called a Statement of Deficiencies is issued and the agency must submit a plan of correction to the Department within 10 days. This plan must specifically indicate how the agency will return to and maintain compliance with each rule or regulation it violated. The most recent inspection data is published on this site.

Limited Licensed Home Care Services Agencies

Limited LHCSAs are operated by the certified operator of an adult care facility (an adult home or an enriched housing program) to directly provide:

  • personal care services and related nursing supervision which are not the responsibility of the adult care facility; and/or
  • application of sterile dressings by a registered professional nurse;
  • intramuscular and subcutaneous injections by a registered professional nurse; and
  • all other related nursing tasks associated with the administration of intramuscular and subcutaneous injections or application of sterile dressings.

These services must be pre-approved for each patient by the local Department of Social Services or the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA).

Complaints, questions or concerns about any licensed home care services agencies should be directed to the Home Health Hotline (800-628-5972). You can also submit a complaint at http://profiles.health.ny.gov/home_care/pages/complaints.