Pennsylvania Code › Title 28 - HEALTH AND SAFETY › Part IV - Health Facilities › Subpart G - Home Health Care Agencies › Chapter 601 - HOME HEALTH CARE AGENCIES › SERVICES › Section 601.31 - Acceptance of patients, plan of treatment and medical supervision

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
Patient
					 acceptance
. Patients shall be accepted for treatment on the basis of a
					 reasonable expectation that the patient's medical, nursing and social needs can
					 be met adequately by the agency in the patient's place of residence. Patient
					 care shall follow a written plan of treatment established and periodically
					 reviewed by the attending physician, and patient care shall continue under the
					 supervision of the attending physician.
(b)
Plan of treatment
. The
					 plan of treatment shall be developed in consultation with the agency staff and
					 shall cover pertinent diagnoses, including mental status, types of services and
					 equipment required, frequency of visits, prognosis, rehabilitation potential,
					 functional limitations, activities permitted, nutritional requirements,
					 medications and treatments, safety measures to protect against injury,
					 instructions for timely discharge or referral and other appropriate items. If
					 an attending physician refers a patient under a plan of treatment which cannot
					 be completed until after an evaluation visit, the attending physician shall be
					 consulted to approve additions or modifications to the original plan. Orders
					 for therapy services shall include the specific procedures and modalities to be
					 used and the amount, frequency and duration of the procedures and modalities.
					 The therapist and other agency personnel shall participate in developing the
					 plan of treatment.
(c)
Periodic review of plan of treatment.
The total plan of
					 treatment shall be reviewed by the attending physician and home health care
					 agency personnel as often as the severity of the patient's condition requires,
					 but at least once every 60 days. Agency professional staff shall promptly alert
					 the physician to changes that suggest a need to alter the plan of
					 treatment.
(d)
Conformance
					 with physician's orders.
Prescriptions and nonprescription
					 (over-the-counter) drugs, devices, medications and treatments, shall be
					 administered by agency staff in accordance with the written orders of the
					 physician. Prescription drugs and devices shall be prescribed by a licensed
					 physician. Only licensed pharmacists shall dispense drugs and devices. Licensed
					 physicians may dispense drugs and devices to the patients who are in their
					 care. The licensed nurse or other individual, who is authorized by appropriate
					 statutes and the State Boards in the Bureau of Professional and Occupational
					 Affairs, shall immediately record and sign oral orders and obtain the
					 physician's countersignature within 7 days. Agency staff shall check medicines
					 a patient may be taking to identify possibly ineffective drug therapy or
					 adverse reactions, significant side effects, drug allergies, and
					 contraindicated medication, and shall promptly report problems to the
					 physician.
This section cited in 28 Pa. Code §
													601.36 (relating to clinical
						  records); and 49 Pa. Code §
													42.25 (relating to
						  orders).