641—80.2 (135) Definitions. For the purposes of these rules, the following definitions apply:
“Administrative expense” means the costs incurred which are not identified readily and specifically with a program but which are necessary to the general operations of the authorized agency.
“Appropriation formula” means the method used to distribute the allocations of the state grant to each county.
“Authorized agency” means a contractor or a private nonprofit or governmental organization delivering all or part of the local public health services funded by the local public health services state grant.
“Care coordination” means assessing a consumer’s need for care; developing, implementing and updating the plan of care; assigning a direct care worker to the case; assigning direct care worker duties, including specifying the frequency of task performance and the length and frequency of visits; providing referrals and follow-up; coordinating the case, including coordinating interagency and intra-agency communications; and maintaining records and reports.
“Community” means the aggregate of persons with common characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, or occupation or other similarities such as location.
“Consumer” means an individual, family, or community utilizing essential public health services through the local public health services state grant.
“Contractor” means the local board of health or the county board of supervisors as agreed upon by the local board of health and the county board of supervisors.
“Core public health functions” means the scope of activities which serve as a broad framework for public health agencies. Core public health functions are:
	  1. 	 Assessment, which means to regularly and systematically collect, assemble, analyze, and make available information on the health of the community, including statistics on health status, community health needs and personal health services and epidemiologic and other studies of health problems.
	  2. 	 Policy development, which means efforts to serve the public interest in the development of comprehensive public health policies by promoting use of a scientific knowledge base in decision making about public health and by taking the lead in comprehensive public health policy development.
	  3. 	 Assurance, which means public health efforts to assure constituents that services necessary to achieve agreed-upon goals are provided either by encouraging actions by other entities (private or public sector), by requiring such action through regulation, or by providing services directly.
“Department” means the Iowa department of public health.
“Dependent nursing” means a function requiring the skills of a licensed registered nurse and the order of a physician according to 655—Chapter 6, Iowa Administrative Code.
“Direct care worker” means a trained and supervised individual who provides services, care, and emotional support to consumers.
“Essential public health services” means activities carried out by the authorized agency fulfilling core public health functions. Essential public health services are:
	  1. 	 Monitoring health status and understanding health issues facing the community.
	  2. 	 Protecting people from health problems and health hazards.
	  3. 	 Giving people information they need to make healthy choices.
	  4. 	 Engaging the community to identify and solve health problems.
	  5. 	 Developing public health policies and plans.
	  6. 	 Enforcing public health laws and regulations.
	  7. 	 Helping people receive health services.
	  8. 	 Maintaining a competent public health workforce.
	  9. 	 Evaluating and improving programs and interventions.
	  10. 	 Contributing to and applying the evidence base of public health.
“Evaluation” means the process to measure the effectiveness of interventions by measuring outcomes against previously established goals and objectives.
“Health promotion” means organizational, economic and environmental supports and education to stimulate healthy behaviors in individuals, groups or communities.
“Income” means all sources of revenue for the consumer and, if applicable, the consumer’s spouse.
“Independent nursing” means a function requiring the skills of a licensed registered nurse according to 655—Chapter 6, Iowa Administrative Code.
“Local board of health” means a county, city or district board of health as defined in Iowa Code section 137.2.
“Nonprofit” means an entity meeting the requirements for tax-exempt status under the United States Internal Revenue Code.
“Nursing process” means the steps completed by a skilled licensed registered nurse according to 655—Chapter 6, Iowa Administrative Code.
“Outcome” means an action or event that follows as a result or consequence of the provision of a service or support.
“Outcome measures” means the mathematical expression of the effect of an activity, product, or service on consumers and the public health. Outcome measures are used to determine the extent to which the activity, product, or service has impacted its intended audience and to identify progress toward the achievement of a goal.
“Personal health services” means health services delivered to individuals, including primary care, specialty care, hospital care, emergency care, and rehabilitative care. For the purpose of the local public health services state grant, personal health services include nursing (disease and disability), nursing (health maintenance), home care aide (homemaker), and home care aide (personal care) activities.
“Population-based services” means interventions or activities for a community to promote health and to prevent disease, injury, disability, premature death, and exposure to environmental hazards.
“Poverty” means the level of adjusted income, factoring in resources and income, which is at or below 75 percent of the current federal poverty guidelines.
“Preservice education” means training required prior to assignment.
“Procedures” means the steps to be taken to implement a policy.
“Process” means a service or support provided by an authorized agency to a consumer that will allow the consumer to achieve an outcome. A process may include a written, formal, and consistent trackable method or an informal method that is not written but is trackable.
“Program,” for the purposes of the state grant, means local public health services, local board of health services, public health nursing services, and home care aide services.
“Protective services” means interventions or activities for a child or adult to alleviate, protect against, or prevent situations which could lead to abuse or neglect. For the purposes of the local public health services state grant, protective services require an order from the justice system.
“Quality improvement” means a process to review, plan and ensure standards of quality for essential public health services, interventions and activities.
“Resources” means unrestricted assets owned by a consumer and, if applicable, by the consumer’s spouse. The place of residence and one vehicle are exempt from consideration of resources.
“Restricted assets” means assets typically involving a penalty for early withdrawal such as IRA accounts, KEOGH accounts, 401(k) accounts, employee retirement accounts, and other deferred tax protected assets involving a penalty for early withdrawal. Restricted assets shall not be considered as a resource in the determination of a consumer’s financial liability for services.
“Service management” means recruiting, employing, providing workforce development to, scheduling, supervising and evaluating direct care workers; ensuring the competency of direct care workers; providing quality assurance for the program; and maintaining community relations.
“Sliding fee scale” means a scale of consumer fee responsibility based on an assessment of the consumer’s ability to pay all or a portion of the charge for services.
“State grant” means the local public health services state grant, which is the allocation of state funds appropriated annually by the Iowa general assembly for local public health services.
“Unrestricted assets” means assets that can be converted to cash for financial support. Unrestricted assets shall be considered in the determination of a consumer’s financial liability for services in the sliding fee calculation.
“Vulnerable population” means individuals or groups in the community who are unable to promote and protect their personal and environmental health.
“Workforce development” means the provision of training relevant to services or tasks assigned to direct care workers to enhance their knowledge and the delivery of essential public health services.