400.487  Patient assessment; establishment and review of plan of care; provision of services.--

(1)  The home health agency providing care and treatment must make an assessment of the patient's needs within 48 hours after the start of services.

(2)  The attending physician for a patient receiving care or treatment provided by a licensed nurse or by a physical, occupational, or speech therapist must establish a plan of care for the patient on behalf of the home health agency that provides services to the patient. The original plan of treatment must be signed by the physician and reviewed, at least every 62 days or more frequently if the patient's illness requires, by the physician in consultation with home health agency personnel that provide services to the patient.

(3)  Each patient has the right to be informed of and to participate in the planning of his or her care. Each patient must be provided, upon request, a copy of the plan of care established and maintained for that patient by the home health agency.

(4)  Home health services that are provided to a patient must be evaluated in the patient's home by a physician licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or chapter 461 or by a registered nurse licensed under chapter 464 as frequently as necessary to assure safe and adequate care, but not less frequently than once every 62 days.

(5)  A home health agency must provide at least one home health service to patients for whom it has agreed to provide care. Services provided by others under contractual arrangements to a home health agency's patients must be monitored and controlled by the home health agency.

(6)  The services provided by a home health agency, directly or under contract, must be supervised and coordinated in accordance with the plan of care.