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Florida Administrative Code (Last Updated: April 18, 2024) |
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59. Agency for Health Care Administration |
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59A. Health Facility and Agency Licensing |
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59A-4. Minimum Standards For Nursing Homes |
1(1) Each 3nursing home licensee must 7will have only one physician who is designated as Medical Director.
18(2)(a) The Medical Director must be a physician licensed under Chapter 458 or 459, F.S., the nursing home administrator may require that the Medical Director be certified or credentialed through a recognized certifying or credentialing organization.
54(b) A Medical Director who does not have hospital privileges must be certified or credentialed through a recognized certifying or credentialing body, such as The Joint Commission, the American Medical Directors Association, the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program of the American Osteopathic Association, the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists of the American Osteopathic Association, the Florida Medical Directors Association or a health maintenance organization licensed in Florida.
119(c) A physician must have his or her principal office within 60 miles of all facilities for which he or she serves as Medical Director. The principal office is the office maintained by a physician 154as required by Section 158458.348 159or 160459.025(3)(c)1., F.S., 162and where the physician delivers the majority of medical services. The physician must specify the address of his or her principal office at the time of becoming Medical Director. The agency may approve a request to waive this requirement for rural facilities that exceed this distance requirement 209as outlined in Section 213120.542(2), F.S215. A rural facility is a facility located in a county with a population density of no greater than 100 persons per square mile, which is at least 30 minutes of travel time, on normally traveled roads under normal traffic conditions, from any other nursing home facility within the same county.
266(d) The 268nursing home licensee must 272appoint a Medical Director who must visit the facility at least once a month. The Medical Director must review all new policies and procedures; review all new incident and new accident reports from the facility to identify clinical risk and safety hazards. The Medical Director must review the most recent grievance logs for any complaints or concerns related to clinical issues. Each visit must be documented in writing by the Medical Director.
344(3) A physician may be Medical Director of a maximum of 10 nursing homes at any one time. The Medical Director, in an emergency where the health of a resident is in jeopardy and the attending physician or covering physician cannot be located, may assume temporary responsibility of the care of the resident and provide the care deemed necessary.
403(4) The Medical Director must meet at least quarterly with the 414risk management and 417quality assurance committee of the facility.
423(5) The Medical Director must participate in the development of the comprehensive care plan for the resident when he or she is also the attending physician of the resident.
452Rulemaking Authority 454400.141, 455400.23 FS. 457Law Implemented 459400.141(1)(b) FS. 461History–New 8-2-01, Amended 12-21-15.
