Maryland Residential Service Agency Complete Startup Package

This package is designed for a Maryland Residential Service Agency, commonly called an RSA, that intends to provide non-medical personal care through the Home Health Aide service category.

It is not a Maryland Home Health Agency license and does not include Medicare certification. An RSA may be licensed for one or more home health care services, but this package focuses on personal care and assistance with activities of daily living.

A Maryland RSA employs or contracts with individuals to provide personal care and assistance with activities of daily living in a client’s residence. Services may include bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, transferring, ambulation, and assistance with eating. Depending on the client’s needs and plan of care, the agency may also provide household support services such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, shopping, and errands.

Maryland Residential Service Agencies are licensed and regulated by the Maryland Department of Health through the Office of Health Care Quality, commonly called OHCQ.

The current OHCQ RSA application dated June 26, 2026 states that there is no fee to apply for a license.

No. Any state fee that OHCQ instructs the applicant to pay, Workers' Compensation premiums, background-check expenses, professional licensing or certification expenses, registered-nurse supervision costs, local business or zoning costs, and other government or third-party charges are separate from the Home Health Forms Startup Package price.

Accreditation is optional for Maryland RSA licensure and is not included unless specifically stated in a written package agreement.

Exact requirements depend on the applicant's ownership, services, personnel, office, and application details. The current application generally requires:

• A typed Residential Service Agency license application.
• Completion of the online RSA Certification concerning worker classification of personal care aides.
• A business plan that includes a one-year operating budget, marketing plan, populations to be served, and a detailed description of services.
• An organizational chart.
• Policies and procedures addressing administration, personnel, patient care, informed consent, environment, and safety.
• An official letter of good standing from the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation.
• Proof of Workers' Compensation coverage, a Certificate of Compliance, or an applicable exemption document.
• Ownership, governing-authority, disclosure, and criminal-history information.
• Job descriptions, educational qualifications, skills assessments, health-screening procedures, and personnel-screening policies.
• Client assessment, plan-of-care, nursing-supervision, complaint, emergency, quality-assurance, recordkeeping, and client-rights documents.

Home Health Forms will provide guidance and support to accomplish these requirements.

Yes. The RSA application requires a business street address and regular business hours. The agency must be open for inspection during those hours, make its offices available to OHCQ when requested, maintain specified current client and personnel files on site, and display its license at or near the office entrance.

Maryland's RSA regulations do not expressly require leased commercial office space. A home-based office may be possible when local zoning, business-licensing, lease or homeowners-association restrictions, privacy, record-security, staffing, inspection access, and all OHCQ requirements are satisfied.

The services must be authorized by the service category or categories listed on the RSA license. A non-medical RSA focused on personal care may provide assistance with activities of daily living, including:

• Eating or being fed.
• Grooming, bathing, oral hygiene, shaving, and hair care.
• Mobility, transfers, ambulation, and access to the outdoors.
• Toileting.
• Dressing in clean, weather-appropriate clothing.
• Related household support included in the client's plan of care.

The qualifications of the caregiver must match the client's needs. Certified caregivers are required for certain delegated nursing tasks, medication administration, and other certified care. A registered nurse determines whether a client who needs assistance with activities of daily living requires a certified nursing assistant or may be served by an individual who is not certified.

Yes. a registered nurse must provide oversight for the care plan, delegation, supervision, and training.

The registered nurse must also provide periodic on-site supervision. The minimum frequency depends on whether staff administer medications, assist with self-administration of medications, or provide care without medication assistance.

No. Accreditation is optional for a Maryland Residential Service Agency and is not required to obtain the state RSA license.

An agency may still choose accreditation for contracting, quality, marketing, or payer-related reasons. Accreditation fees and the accreditor's application process are separate unless specifically included in a written agreement.

Maryland does not publish a guaranteed processing time for RSA applications. Regardless of how long the licensing process takes, getting started now puts you one step closer to becoming operational.

The Maryland Residential Service Agency Complete Startup Package may include:

• A professionally designed company logo.
• A customized WordPress business website.
• One year of website hosting.
• One year of domain registration.
• A business plan and one-year operating budget.
• 500 customized business cards.
• 500 customized tri-fold brochures.
• Maryland-specific policies and procedures cross-walked to applicable RSA requirements.
• Human-resources and personnel documents.
• New-client admission documents.
• Operational and administrative forms.
• Preparation assistance for the Maryland Residential Service Agency application.
• Access to the Home Health Forms members' area.
• Customization of documents to the purchaser's agency.
• Ongoing guidance and applicable document updates.

No. Home Health Forms provides startup guidance, customized documents, and application-preparation assistance. The Maryland Department of Health and OHCQ make all licensing decisions.

The applicant remains responsible for providing complete and truthful information, satisfying ownership, personnel, Workers' Compensation, registered-nurse supervision, office, training, screening, and operational requirements, responding to OHCQ requests, paying any required government or third-party charges, and maintaining compliance.

Licensing approval and processing times cannot be guaranteed.

Customized policy manuals, forms, and related digital documents are generally emailed within five business days after Home Health Forms receives all company information needed to complete the customization.

logo creation, business-plan preparation, website development, domain registration, printing, shipping, and other package components may have separate production timelines.

Cancellation and refund eligibility depends on the work already completed, customized materials produced, digital products delivered, third-party expenses paid, printing ordered, and other services already performed.