Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 111 - RULES OF DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH › Chapter 111-8 - HEALTHCARE FACILITY REGULATION › Subject 111-8-37 - RULE AND REGULATIONS FOR HOSPICES › Rule 111-8-37-.03 - Definitions

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1) Unless the
				context otherwise requires, these identified terms mean the following when used
				in these rules:
(a) "Administrator" means the
				person, by whatever title used, to whom the governing body has delegated the
				responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the hospice, including the
				implementation of the policies and procedures adopted by the governing
				body.
(b) "Advanced and progressive
				disease" means a serious life-threatening medical condition which is
				irreversible and which will continue indefinitely, where there is no reasonable
				hope of recovery, but where the patient's medical prognosis is one in which
				there is a life expectancy of up to two years. The term does not include
				terminally ill patients as defined in paragraph (ee) of this rule.
(c) "Attending physician" means the physician
				identified by the hospice patient or the patient's representative as having
				primary responsibility for the hospice patient's medical care and who is
				licensed to practice medicine in this state.
(d) "Bereavement services" means the
				supportive services provided to the family unit to assist it in coping with the
				patient's death, including follow-up assessment and assistance through the
				first year after death.
(e)
				"Clergy" means an individual representative of a specific spiritual belief who
				has documentation of ordination or commission by a recognized faith group and
				who has completed at least one unit of clinical pastoral education from a
				nationally recognized provider.
(f)
				"Counseling" means those techniques used to help persons learn how to solve
				problems and make decisions related to personal growth, vocation, family,
				social, and other interpersonal concerns.
(g) "Department" means the Georgia Department
				of Community Health.
(h)
				"Dietitian" means a specialist in the study of nutrition who is licensed as
				required by O.C.G.A. §
										43-11A-1
et seq.
,
				the "Dietetics Practice Act."
(i)
				"Family unit" means the terminally ill person or person with an advanced and
				progressive disease and his or her family, which may include spouse, children,
				siblings, parents, and other relatives with significant personal ties to the
				patient.
(j) "Governing body" means
				the board of directors, trustees, partnership, corporation, association, or
				person or group of persons who maintain and control the operation of the
				hospice and who are legally responsible for its operation.
(k) "Home care" means hospice care primarily
				delivered in the residence of the hospice patient, whether that place is the
				patient's permanent or temporary residence. A hospice patient who considers his
				or her residence to be a licensed assisted living community, licensed nursing
				home, licensed intermediate care home, licensed personal care home, or
				residential hospice setting is considered to be receiving home care while a
				resident of that facility.
(l)
				"Hospice" means a public agency or private organization or unit of either
				providing to persons terminally ill and to their families, regardless of
				ability to pay, a centrally administered and autonomous continuum of palliative
				and supportive care, directed and coordinated by the hospice care team
				primarily in the patient's home but also on an outpatient and short-term
				inpatient basis and which is classified as a hospice by the Department. In
				addition, such public agency or private organization or unit of either may also
				provide palliative care to persons with advanced and progressive diseases and
				to their families, directed and coordinated by the hospice care team.
(m) "Hospice care" means both regularly
				scheduled care and care available on a 24 hour on-call basis, consisting of
				medical, nursing, social, spiritual, volunteer, and bereavement services
				substantially all of which are provided to the patient and to the patient's
				family regardless of ability to pay under a written care plan established and
				periodically reviewed by the patient's attending physician, by the medical
				director of the hospice program, and by the hospice care team.
(n) "Hospice care team" means an
				interdisciplinary working unit composed of members of the various helping
				professions (who may donate their professional services), including but not
				limited to: a physician licensed or authorized to practice in this state, a
				registered professional nurse, a social worker, a member of the clergy or other
				counselors, and volunteers who provide hospice care.
(o) "Inpatient care" means short-term,
				24-hour medically supervised care for the purpose of adjusting and monitoring
				the terminally ill patient's medications for pain control or managing acute or
				chronic symptoms that cannot be managed in another setting. Inpatient care is
				provided within the confines of a licensed hospital, a licensed skilled nursing
				facility, or a licensed inpatient hospice facility.
(p) "Inpatient hospice facility" means a
				facility that is licensed to provide acute inpatient care for hospice patients
				in beds that are not included in the certified bed capacity of another licensed
				facility.
(q) "License" means a
				license issued by the Department to the governing body to operate a
				hospice.
(r) "Medical director"
				means a physician licensed in this state who is a member of the hospice care
				team and is responsible for the direction and quality of the medical component
				of the care rendered by the hospice to patients.
(s) "Palliative care" means those
				interventions by the hospice care team which are intended to achieve relief
				from, reduction of, or elimination of pain and of other physical, emotional,
				social, or spiritual symptoms of distress to achieve the best quality of life
				for the patients and their families.
(t) "Patient" means a terminally ill
				individual receiving the hospice continuum of services, regardless of ability
				to pay and also means an individual with an advanced and progressive
				disease.
(u) "Patient
				representative" means an individual who, under applicable laws, has the
				authority to act on behalf of the patient where the patient is incapable of
				making decisions related to health care.
(v) "Personal care services" means assistance
				with activities of daily living, personal care, ambulation and exercise;
				provision of household services essential to health care at home; assistance
				with self-administration of medication; and preparation of meals.
(w) "Physician" means an individual who is
				licensed to practice medicine in this state by the Georgia Composite Medical
				Board.
(x) "Primary caregiver"
				means a person or entity designated in writing by the patient or the patient's
				representative who agrees to give and/or arrange for continuing support and
				care and who may advocate on behalf of the patient.
(y) "Professional counselor" means a person
				licensed or certified as a professional counselor or associate professional
				counselor as required by O.C.G.A. §
										43-10A-1
et seq.
,
				the "Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family
				Therapists Licensing Law."
(z)
				"Registered nurse" means an individual who is currently licensed to practice
				nursing under the provisions of Article 1 of Chapter 26 of Title 43 of the
				Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(aa) "Residential hospice facility" means a
				small home-like residential facility or unit that is a part of a licensed
				hospice program, designed, staffed, and organized to provide non-acute hospice
				care, 24-hours per day, seven days per week, under the supervision of the
				hospice physician and hospice registered nurses to terminally ill hospice
				patients and their family units.
(bb) "Respite care" means short-term
				inpatient or residential care provided for the patient to provide relief for
				that patient's family unit from the stress of providing care.
(cc) "Restraint" means any manual, physical,
				or mechanical method, device, material, or equipment that immobilizes or
				reduces the ability of a patient to move his or her arms, legs, body or head
				freely, not including devices, such as orthopedically prescribed devices,
				surgical dressings or bandages, protective helmets, or other methods that
				involve the physical holding of a patient for the purpose of conducting routine
				physical examinations or tests, or to protect the patient from falling out of
				bed, or to permit the patient to participate in activities without the risk of
				physical harm (this does not include a physical escort); or a drug or
				medication when it is used as a restriction to manage the patient's behavior or
				restrict the patient's freedom of movement and is not a standard treatment or
				dosage for the patient's condition.
(dd) "Social worker" means an individual who
				is qualified by education, training, and experience and licensed as required by
				law to perform social work for hospice patients and their family
				units.
(ee) "Terminally ill" means
				that the individual is experiencing an illness for which therapeutic
				intervention directed toward cure of the disease is no longer appropriate, and
				the patient's medical prognosis is one in which there is a life expectancy of
				six months or less.
(ff)
				"Volunteer" means a lay or professional person who provides, without
				compensation, support and assistance to the patient and the patient's family
				under the supervision of a member of the hospice staff unit in accordance with
				the plan of care developed by the hospice care team.