Why MyHealthForm.com Exists
The requirement is easy to state and hard to satisfy.
Florida law requires that a caregiver referred by a nurse registry have documentation that they are free from communicable disease (Fla. Stat. 400.506(6)(a); Fla. Admin. Code 59A-18.005(6)). The statute does not define which communicable diseases are covered, and no Florida agency publishes a standardized screening instrument for satisfying it.
The requirement is actively enforced
This is not a dormant provision. AHCA surveyors evaluate caregiver health statement documentation under survey tag ST-G0151, Communicable Disease Screening. A surveyor reviewing a caregiver file is looking for:
- a statement signed by a qualifying healthcare professional
- appropriate credentials for the person signing it
- a date within the preceding six months
- clear “free from communicable disease” language
- the documentation on file prior to referral
Each of those is a separate way for an otherwise diligent registry to be cited. A statement signed by a provider outside an appropriate scope of practice is a recurring failure — in one instance, a registry was cited for a health statement completed by a chiropractor [DATE / REGION].
Documentation produced under the internal screening process described below has been present in caregiver files during AHCA surveys of a licensed Florida nurse registry since 2007.
MyHealthForm.com is not endorsed, approved, or certified by AHCA or any other state agency. AHCA does not review or approve screening instruments. The statements above describe survey criteria and enforcement experience only.
The problems that kept surfacing
Through years of work with the Private Care Association, the same problems surfaced repeatedly.
Cost. Registries and caregivers consistently identified the expense of obtaining the documentation as a barrier, particularly for independently employed caregivers paying out of pocket before earning their first referral.
Physician reluctance. Caregivers reported that providers frequently declined to sign a statement worded that broadly — understandably, since no examination can establish that a person is free from every communicable disease.
Independence. A third consideration receives less attention, and it is raised here as a question rather than a conclusion. Nurse registries refer independent contractors; they do not employ them. Some registry operators have raised the concern that issuing a registry-specific form and directing referred caregivers to complete it could be characterized as directing the work of a contractor. Whether that is so in any particular case is a question for each registry and its own counsel. Documentation that the caregiver obtains independently, and owns, avoids the question entirely.
What we tried first
We pursued the direct fixes first. AHCA’s position was that the agency enforces this requirement rather than writes it — the language originates in statute, and amending it would require action by the Florida Legislature. Separate inquiries seeking a working definition of “communicable disease” for this purpose, or an acceptable screening instrument, did not result in published guidance.
How the question has been answered elsewhere
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services publishes a standardized Communicable Disease / Tuberculosis Screening Questionnaire (Form F-01679) through its official state forms library. The Mount Sinai Health System publishes an Infectious Diseases Screening Tool used in its own occupational health screening.
None of this started as a theoretical exercise. A structured screening process has been in use inside a Florida-licensed nurse registry since 2007, developed and administered by Scott Strachan, RN BSN, as owner and administrator of Abby Services, Inc. It has run in day-to-day registry operations for nearly two decades.
MyHealthForm.com formalized that process under a written protocol established and signed by a licensed physician, structured it against the instruments above to meet the Florida nurse registry documentation requirement, and opened it to caregivers and registries across the state. Screenings are administered by a Florida-licensed Registered Nurse.
MyHealthForm.com is a separate business from Abby Services, Inc. Nurse registries remain free to accept qualifying documentation from any appropriate healthcare professional, and no registry is required to use this service.
References
- Fla. Stat. 400.506(6)(a)
- Fla. Admin. Code 59A-18.005(6)
- AHCA survey tag ST-G0151, Communicable Disease Screening
- Wisconsin DHS Form F-01679, Communicable Disease / Tuberculosis Screening Questionnaire
- Mount Sinai Health System, Infectious Diseases Screening Tool