The individual’s access to medication was impacted by the staff’s shift change and set up of the office. Staff was focused on completing a shift change task, of medication reconciling and money reconciling. The medication reconciling and money reconciling are necessary by M.S. 245 licensing requirements and reflected the provider’s attempts to maintain compliance. The staff’s focus of attention to the tasks was impacted as the staff had limited time during shift change. Often times, overlap of staff is only a few minutes, which is why staff adapted to combine the reconciliation processes to complete it quickly. 

Impacting the limited amount of time for shift changes was that the provider could not schedule much overlap between staff during shift changes. Contributing to the limited time was that routine staffing patterns do not allow for staff overlap at shift change. Labor laws can influence staffing patterns by dictating the number of hours individuals can work and the requirement to receive compensation for time worked, including overtime pay. The staffing patterns are both impacted by and impacting the fiscal constraints of the provider. These patterns dictate the level of staffing required for individuals in the home and does not allow for the provider to hire additional staff.  The Rate Management Worksheet (6790) identifies the staffing need of the individual, but does not account for the needs of the provider to support the individual; therefore this impacts the staffing patterns of the home. The MnCHOICES assessment which is completed by the county influences the 6790 by determining the level of care – including staff hours – a person may need. The Rate Management System (RMS) which calculates rates based on information received in the 6790 has a reciprocating impact with the 6790 in that RMS factors in legislative constraints to rates as well as the flexible components negotiated during the 6790 process. The RMS is influenced by both the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) and The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) defined services for indirect and direct care. Only direct service time as defined by CMS and the waiver plan can be included on a 6790 for this service, and as staff coordination is indirect time, this time cannot be added to the worksheet. Therefore, there is no compensation to the provider for overlap in staffing to allow for a shift change because this is considered to be indirect time. The Legislative decisions also impact the DWRS as the legislature creates and amends the rate components set in Minnesota statutes (256B) which directly impacts the rates providers receive to staff homes.