The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) Alarm call--A signal transmitted from the equipment to the provider's response center indicating that an individual needs immediate assistance.

(2) Call button--An electronic device that, when pressed, triggers an alarm call to the provider's response center to alert the provider that an individual needs immediate assistance. The device may be held in the hand, worn around the neck, hung on a garment, or kept within an individual's reach.

(3) Case manager--A DADS employee who is responsible for case management activities for an individual, including eligibility determination, enrollment, assessment and reassessment of the individual's need, service plan development, and intercession on the individual's behalf.

(4) CBA--Community Based Alternatives. A Medicaid waiver program that provides services to eligible adults who are aged or disabled or both as an alternative to institutional care in a nursing facility. CBA services are provided in accordance with the waiver provisions of §1915(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §1396n(c)).

(5) CCAD--Community Care for Aged and Disabled. A group of DADS programs that provide a variety of Title XX-funded community-based services.

(6) Contract--A written agreement between DADS and a provider to provide ERS to an individual in exchange for payment.

(7) Contract manager--A DADS employee who is responsible for the overall management of a contract with a provider.

(8) Coordinator--A provider employee who is responsible for the management and provision of ERS and who ensures that services are delivered as described in this chapter.

(9) CWP--Consolidated Waiver Program. A Medicaid waiver program that provides home and community-based services to people who are eligible for care in a nursing facility care or an intermediate care facility for persons with mental retardation or related conditions (ICF-MR/RC). CWP services are provided in accordance with the waiver provisions of §1915(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §1396n(c)).

(10) DADS--Department of Aging and Disability Services.

(11) Day--Any reference to a day means a calendar day, unless otherwise specified in the text. A calendar day includes weekends and holidays.

(12) ERS--Emergency response services. A CCAD program and a service provided through the CBA and CWP programs that provides electronic monitoring services for functionally impaired adults who live alone or who are functionally isolated in the community. In the CBA and CWP programs, ERS helps assure health and safety in the community.

(13) Equipment--The system used in an individual's home to provide electronic monitoring services.

(14) Imminent danger--An immediate, real threat to a person's safety.

(15) Individual--A person who has been determined eligible to receive ERS. A reference in this chapter to "individual" includes the individual's representative, unless the context indicates otherwise.

(16) Installer--A volunteer, a subcontractor, or an employee of a provider who connects, maintains, or repairs the equipment.

(17) Institution--A hospital, a nursing facility, a state mental retardation facility, a state mental health facility, or an ICF-MR/RC.

(18) Monitor--A volunteer, a subcontractor, or an employee of a provider who monitors ERS and ensures that an alarm call is responded to immediately.

(19) Negotiated referral--A request from a case manager to a provider to begin services on a particular date due to an individual's needs, or a service start date that is negotiated between the case manager and the provider.

(20) Provider--An entity that has a contract with DADS to provide ERS.

(21) Public service personnel--A staff member of a sheriff's department, police department, emergency medical service, or fire department.

(22) Reckless behavior--Acting with conscious indifference to the consequences.

(23) Representative--An individual's spouse, other responsible party, or legal representative.

(24) Responder--A person designated by an individual to respond to an emergency call activated by the individual. A responder may be a relative, a neighbor, or a volunteer.

(25) Response center--The site where a provider's ERS monitoring system is located.

(26) Routine referral--A request from a case manager to a provider to begin ERS for which the case manager determines that an individual's needs do not require a negotiated referral.

(27) Subcontractor--An organization or an individual who delivers a component of ERS for the provider for a fee and is not an employee or volunteer of the provider.

(28) Suspension--A temporary stoppage of ERS to an individual without loss of the individual's ERS eligibility.

(29) System check--A successful activation of the call button by an individual or a test of the equipment by the provider.

(30) Termination--A permanent stoppage of ERS to an individual by DADS.

(31) Working day--Any day except Saturday, Sunday, a state holiday, or a federal holiday.

Source Note: The provisions of this §279.3 adopted to be effective March 1, 2006, 31 TexReg 1307; transferred effective July 1, 2021, as published in the June 11, 2021 issue of the Texas Register, 46 TexReg 3617