Rule 3701-41-03 | Standards for operation of poison prevention and treatment centers.
(A) To be designated as a poison prevention and treatment center under rule 3701-41-02 of the Administrative Code and to maintain the designation, a center shall conform to the standards of operation prescribed by this rule. A center may provide the services described in paragraphs (B) and (C) of this rule either directly or through contract with other entities, as the director considers appropriate.
(B) Each center shall maintain and staff a twenty-four-hour per day, toll-free telephone line to respond to inquiries and provide information about poison prevention and treatment and available services. A center may satisfy the requirement that the telephone line be toll-free either by maintaining a "1-800" number or accepting collect calls from within its region.
(C) Each center shall provide specialized treatment, consultation, information and educational programs to health care professionals and the public.
(D) Each center shall compile information on the types and frequency of treatment it provides.
(E) Each center shall have the following personnel, either on staff or by means of a contract with another entity:
(1) A medical director who:
(a) Is a physician licensed under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code and board-certified in medical toxicology;
(b) Has ongoing interest and expertise in toxicology as evidenced by publications, research and meeting attendance;
(c) Has a medical staff appointment at a hospital providing poison treatment services;
(d) Is involved in the management of poisoned patients; and
(e) Assures that when he or she is not available to the center, qualified medical toxicology expertise is provided to the center by other physicians at all times.
(2) A managing director who:
(a) Has had substantial involvement in the operations of an entity providing services similar to those provided by poison prevention and treatment centers, including involvement in the areas of clinical toxicology, education and administration;
(b) Is licensed nurse, pharmacist, physician, or holds a degree in a life-science discipline if a diplomate of the American board of applied toxicology (ABAT);
(c) If responsible for toxicological supervision of providers of poison information for the center is board-certified or board-eligible for ABAT or American board of medical specialties (ABMS) certification.
(3) Providers of poison information who:
(a) Are registered nurses licensed to practice nursing as a registered nurse under Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code, pharmacists licensed under Chapter 4729. of the Revised Code, physicians licensed under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code or individuals currently certified by the "American Association of Poison Control Centers" as specialists in poison information. The center may use other individuals as providers of poison information upon a determination by the director of health that the center has documented that the individual possesses appropriate equivalent qualifications and training and that the medical director has approved of the use of the individual as a provider of poison information;
(b) Are capable of comprehending and interpreting standard poison information resources and of transmitting that information in a logical, concise and understandable way to both health professionals and the public; and
(c) Either are dedicated fully to poison prevention and treatment center activities during periods when they are assigned to the center or perform only those other duties that do not interfere with center activities;
(4) Administrative personnel who are qualified by training or experience to supervise finances, operations, personnel, data analysis and other administrative functions of the center. The administrative personnel may be on the staff of a parent entity of which the center is a part;
(5) Education personnel who are qualified by training or experience to provide, under the supervision of the medical director, educational lectures or materials to health professionals; and
(6) Education personnel who are qualified by training or experience to provide public-oriented presentations on poison prevention and treatment center awareness, poison prevention and first aid for poisoning. These individuals shall be capable of providing verbal presentations to public audiences and shall have sufficient understanding of the material to answer questions from members of the public accurately.
Nothing in this paragraph precludes staff members of a poison prevention and treatment center from serving a center in more than one of the capacities listed by this paragraph.
(F) Each center shall maintain a list of consultants who are qualified by training or experience to provide specialized toxicology or patient care information in their areas of expertise. The center shall document that these consultants have made an expressed commitment to provide consultation services on an on-call, as-needed basis. The list of consultants shall be consistent with the type of poisonings encountered in the area served by the center. Nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted to prohibit consultants from charging fees to centers or callers for the provision of specialized expertise and consultation.
(G) Each center shall take measures to ensure the confidentiality of information about individuals to whom treatment or services are provided. These measures shall include but are not limited to:
(1) Assuring that only authorized persons are allowed in the area or room that is used to store records of persons receiving services from the center;
(2) Providing security measures to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized access to any case records containing sufficient information to identify the individual receiving services that are maintained in electronic or automated information systems; and
(3) Otherwise maintaining records according to procedures established by any applicable state or federal law.
(H) Each center shall develop and maintain on the premises of the center a written manual of policies and procedures that shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1) A description of when the poison information providers are to contact the medical director or other on-call consultants;
(2) Descriptions of when first aid procedures are to be recommended to callers and of how the procedures are to be performed;
(3) A description of how callers are to be assigned priority for medical treatment or consultation, which may include a list, if applicable, of common substances with guidelines for when home and hospital management are appropriate;
(4) Guidelines for follow-up calls to patients managed at home or referred to a health care provider to determine case outcome;
(5) Procedure for handling information calls, animal exposure calls and human exposure calls;
(6) A schedule for reviewing and updating all protocols, policies and procedures; and
(7) A procedure for storing, processing, indexing, retrieving and destroying the center's medical and other case records.
(I) The center shall maintain on file a current table of organization that shall display, at a minimum, the following:
(1) All operating units of the entity involved in providing poison prevention and treatment services and all entities providing services for the center through contract and their interrelationships;
(2) Lines of responsibility and function for all administrative and service personnel of the center; and
(3) Any advisory boards, committees or similar bodies for the center.
(J) Each center shall maintain a written quality assurance plan which identifies an individual or individuals responsible for implementation of the plan and collection of necessary information. The center shall take and document corrective actions to improve service delivery as needed, based on its monitoring and evaluation under the quality assurance plan.
Supplemental Information