Patient Acceptance, Referral Intake, and Service Area

Sets out how the Agency receives referrals and decides, consistently and without discrimination, whether to accept a patient: only on a reasonable expectation that the patient’s needs can be met (22 CCR §74721(c)(2)) and only if the Agency can provide adequate care (§74695(b)); that patients needing medical orders are under the care of a physician or other licensed practitioner (§74695(a)); the service area limits (§74607(a); the SB 164 moratorium on service area changes); and, if the Agency is Medicare-certified, the acceptance-to-service policy reviewed every year and the public information on services and limits (42 CFR §484.105(i)).