Residential Substance Abuse Treatment & Life Safety Code

By: Valery Bond, RHIT

Did you know as a residential addiction substance abuse treatment provider, your facility must know what is, and what is not, above your ceiling tiles?  Does your facility have a “No Smoking” sign at the main entrance?  Do you know which way the doors are supposed to close?  Want to grow your business?  Plan on expanding?  You will need an ILSM (Interim Life Safety Measure) completed; and, the ILSM must include an infection control acknowledgment.

The Bottom Line About ILSM for Substance Abuse Treatment

In simplicity, buildings serving patients must comply with the NFPA 101 (2012 edition) Life Safety Code.  Has your substance abuse treatment organization identified a Safety Officer?  Has the Safety Officer identified Life Safety Code problems?  If your answer is “No” to these two basic questions, it may be time for your practice to implement a Life Safety program.

Known as “Minimum Fire Safety Standards for Residential Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment and Prevention Programs, mental Health Residential Treatment Facilities and Crisis Stabilization Units”, this rule chapter must be applied and adhered to in all 24 hour, 7 day per week healthcare facilities, just like a traditional hospital.Continue reading

Healthcare Business Operations: Non-Profit Regulations for the Rehab Industry

By: Shobha Lizaso

There has been a growing trend in the substance abuse rehabilitation industry to provide services through a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Unfortunately, there is also a growing trend relating to IRS audits of non-profits. An audit by the IRS can yield many negative outcomes, including the revocation of a treatment center’s tax exempt status and fines imposed on the organization and/or its Directors when the non-profit fails to operate within the rules applicable to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.

A non-profit may be able to fly under the IRS’s radar for a few years, but as the years pass, the chances that non-profit non-compliance will be caught by the IRS grows exponentially.  To protect your non-profit, please follow some of these basic rules:Continue reading