Rule 3701-17-13 | Medical supervision.
(A) Each nursing home operator will arrange for the services of a physician to serve as the home's medical director, and the medical director will:
(1) Collaborate with the administrator, the nursing director, and other health professionals to develop formal resident care policies for the nursing home that:
(a) Provide for the total medical and psycho-social needs of the resident, including admissions, transfer, discharge planning, range of services available to the resident, emergency procedures and frequency of physician visits in accordance with resident needs and the applicable provisions of Chapter 3721. of the Revised Code and of rules 3701-17-01 to 3701-17-26 of the Administrative Code.
(b) Promote resident rights as enumerated in section 3721.13 of the Revised Code.
(2) Make available medical care for residents not under the care of their own physicians and to make available emergency medical care to all residents, provided their personal physicians are not readily available.
(3) Meet periodically with nursing and other professional staff to discuss clinical and administrative issues, including the need for additional staff, specific resident care problems and professional staff needs for education or consultants to assist in meeting special needs such as dentistry, podiatry, dermatology, and orthopedics, offer solutions to problems, and identify areas where policy should be developed. In carrying out this function, the medical director will:
(a) Observe residents and facilities at least quarterly or more frequently as needed;
(b) Review pharmacy reports, at least quarterly, including summaries of the drug regimen reviews set forth in paragraph (I) of rule 3701-17-17 of the Administrative Code and the quality assurance activities set forth in paragraph (C) of rule 3701-17-06 of the Administrative Code, and take appropriate and timely action as needed to implement recommendations; and
(c) The medical director will ensure medical standards are adhered to during facility emergencies, voluntary closures, and decertification or licensure actions and this can be performed either in-person or virtually.
(4) Monitor the clinical practices of, and discuss identified problems with, attending physicians; act as a liaison between the attending physicians and other health professionals caring for residents and the residents' families; and intervene as needed on behalf of residents or the home's administration.
(5) Maintain surveillance of the health of the nursing home's staff to avoid the spread of infectious diseases.
(6) Assist the administrator and professional staff in ensuring a safe and sanitary environment for residents and staff by reviewing incidents and accidents, identifying hazards to health and safety, and advising about possible correction or improvement of the environment.
(7) Review all deficiency statements issued to the nursing home concerning the medical director.
(B) The nursing home is not authorized to administer any medication to any resident unless ordered by a physician or other licensed health professionals acting within the applicable scope of practice. If orders are given by telephone, the order will be documented with the licensed health professional's name, date, and the order and be signed by the person who accepted the order. All orders, including facsimile, telephone, electronic mail, or verbal orders, are to be accepted and documented in accordance with United States drug enforcement administration and board of pharmacy of the state of Ohio provisions.
(C) The nursing home is not authorized to administer any treatment to any resident unless ordered by a physician or other licensed health professionals acting within the applicable scope of practice. If orders are given by telephone, the order will be documented with the licensed health professional's name, date, and the order and be signed by the person who accepted the order. All orders, including facsimile, telephone, electronic mail, or verbal orders, are to be signed and dated by the physician or other licensed health professional working in collaboration with the physician who gave the order within fourteen days after the order was given.
(1) Telephone orders are not authorized to be accepted by a person other than a licensed nurse on duty, another physician or a pharmacist, except that a licensed physical, occupational or respiratory therapist, audiologist, speech pathologist, dietitian, or other licensed health professional may receive, document and date treatment orders concerning that individual's specific discipline for residents under their care, to the extent permitted by applicable licensing laws.
(2) The nursing home may accept signed orders issued by a licensed health professional by electronic mail or facsimile transmission only if the home has instituted procedural safeguards for authenticating and maintaining confidentiality of the facsimile order, and for handling it in an expedient and priority manner.
(3) An entry that is an electronic record as defined in section 3701.75 of the Revised Code may be authenticated by an electronic signature in accordance with section 3701.75 of the Revised Code, if allowed by law.
(D) Each resident of a nursing home will be under the supervision of a physician and be evaluated by a physician or other licensed health professionals acting within the applicable scope of practice at least once every thirty days for the first ninety days after admission, or after three evaluations. After this period, each resident of a nursing home will be evaluated by a physician or other licensed health professionals acting within the applicable scope of practice at least every sixty days, except that if the attending physician documents in the medical record why it is appropriate, the resident may be evaluated no less frequently than once every one hundred twenty days.
(1) The evaluations obligated by this rule will be made in person and the physician or licensed health professional will solicit resident input to the extent of the resident's capabilities during the evaluation.
(2) The physician or licensed health professional will write a progress note after each evaluation depicting the current condition of the resident based upon consideration of the physical, mental and emotional status of the resident.
(3) A physician or licensed health professional visit is considered timely if it occurs no later than ten calendar days after the date the visit was scheduled.
(E) On an annual basis, each nursing home will offer to each resident a vaccination against influenza and a vaccination against pneumococcal pneumonia as set forth in section 3721.041 of the Revised Code.
Last updated July 17, 2025 at 7:54 AM
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