Resources for Admissions and Communicable Diseases Rule for ALFs

As Assisted Living Facility owners, administrators, and managers will know by now, the Agency for Health Care Administration recently revised admission provisions, changing the infectious status of persons who may be admitted to or retained by an Assisted Living Facility.  This policy shift was in development for 2 years and, as a member of the Florida Center for Assisted Living, I was part of the comment team along the way.

The Agency’s revised rule makes it easier for hospitals to discharge patients with certain infections to Assisted Living Facilities.  Allowed infections are those respiratory illnesses that can be spread through droplet transmissions. The ALF Administrator has the discretion to admit if appropriate droplet precautions are implemented by their facility staff.

I attended FHCA’s Infection Prevention and Droplet Precautions in the ALF webinar (12/3). Taught by A.C. Burke (RB Health Partners), the training provided steps to getting started with this serious new endeavor. A.C. also shared an important U.S. Centers for Disease Control resource that lists infections/conditions and their associated category of precautions.  The CDC’s Appendix A is a nationally accepted standard that supports Administrators in matching infectious diseases to the types of precautions recommended. The recorded webinar is available free to members on the FHCA’s Learning Center and Appendix A is linked below. Agency surveyors will be citing deficiencies in this area at Tag A0007 Admissions Criteria of the ASPEN Regulation Set for ALFs.

I’ve prepared a simple comparison of the former and the final rule which was promulgated on November 27. Further, the LSLE ALF Administrator Core Training eLearning Program and its Companion Manual have been updated. I spoke with Dr. Macdonald of The Macdonald Research Institute; TMRI has updated the official state competency exam to reflect the change as well.

Admissions and Communicable Diseases Rule Comparison (LSLE, 1/15/26)

Appendix A of Isolation Precautions: Type and Duration of Precautions (CDC)