Section 4710. Shared health facilities; quality of care requirements

1. To
  ensure quality, continuity and proper coordination of medical care, each
  shared health facility shall:
    (a)  designate  an  individual  who  shall  coordinate  and manage the
  facility's activities. The person so designated shall be responsible for
  compliance with the provisions of this article;
    (b) devise an appropriate means of insuring that (i) patients will  be
  scheduled  to  return  for  appropriate  follow-up care and (ii) will be
  treated by a practitioner familiar with the patient's medical history;
    (c) post conspicuously the names and scheduled  office  hours  of  all
  practitioners practicing in the facility;
    (d) maintain proper records which shall contain at least the following
  information:
    (i) the full name, address and program number of each patient;
    (ii)  the  dates  of  all visits to all providers in the shared health
  facility;
    (iii) the chief complaint for each  visit  to  each  provider  in  the
  shared health facility;
    (iv)  pertinent history and all physical examinations rendered by each
  provider in the shared health facility;
    (v) diagnostic impressions for each  visit  to  any  provider  in  the
  shared health facility;
    (vi)  all  medications prescribed by any provider in the shared health
  facility;
    (vii) the precise dosage and prescription regimens for each medication
  prescribed by a provider in the shared health facility;
    (viii) all x-ray, laboratory work and  electrocardiograms  ordered  at
  each  visit  by  any  provider  in the shared health facility, and their
  results;
    (ix) all referrals by providers in the shared health facility to other
  medical practitioners and the reason for such referrals; and
    (x) a statement as to whether or not the patient is expected to return
  for further treatment and the dates of all return appointments;
    (e) assign an individual and clearly identified  practitioner  to  all
  patients.    This assignment may be changed at any time at the patient's
  discretion;
    (f) make available to registered patients either:
    (i) the central answering service telephone number of  each  patient's
  designated  practitioner  or  such  practitioner's personally designated
  colleagues, or
    (ii) a centralized twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-day-weekly  telephone
  line for off-hour emergency patient questions;
    (g) maintain a central day-book registry which shall record:
    (i) the name and program number of all patients entering the facility;
  and
    (ii) the chief complaint and the names of all providers whose services
  were  requested by the patient and/or to whom such patient was referred;
  and
    (h) insure that the physical facilities of each shared health facility
  shall provide for maximum privacy for all patients  during  examination,
  interview and treatment;
    (i)  post  conspicuously the telephone number of the agency within the
  department of health which  is  responsible  for  providing  information
  concerning  shared  health  facilities  and/or  for receiving complaints
  concerning the provision  of  health  care  services  at  shared  health
  facilities.
    2.  It shall be the responsibility of each facility's administrator to
  ensure  that  patient  records  and  summaries  of  all  patient  visits

  including  diagnosis  and  pharmaceuticals  prescribed  are at all times
  available at either the facility or at a place immediately accessible to
  all health providers at the facility.
    3.  Nothing  in  this  article  shall  in  any  way  be interpreted as
  infringing upon the patient's right to  free  selection  of  a  personal
  practitioner.
    4.  The  department  shall  have  the  right  to  inspect the business
  records, patient records, leases and other  contracts  executed  by  any
  provider  in  a  shared health facility. Such inspections may be by site
  visits to the facility.