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<section article="ghg" article_name="Health - General" number="19-903" title_number="19" title_name="Health Care Facilities" subtitle_number="9" subtitle_name="Hospice Care Facilities">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The Secretary shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The regulations for general hospice care programs shall set standards for general hospice care programs that are comparable to the standards established by the National Hospice Organization.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>The Secretary, by regulation, after consultation with interested groups, including The Hospice Network of Maryland, Inc., shall establish standards for the operation of a hospice care program.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The regulations shall set qualifications for medical directors of hospices. A medical director of a hospice care program need not be an employee or a contractee of a hospice care program.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The regulations for a hospice facility shall require:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>The medical director to be a physician licensed to practice medicine in this State;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>The dietary, nursing, pastoral care, pharmaceutical, and social worker services to be adequate; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>A physician other than an attending physician to be on call and available at all times.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>The regulations for a home-based hospice care program shall require:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>The medical director to be a physician licensed to practice medicine in this State;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>The provision of bereavement services;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>The provision of services to meet the spiritual or social needs of dying individuals and their families;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>The provision of palliative and supportive medical, nursing, and other health services:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Directly or by contract for a general licensee; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>By referral only for a limited licensee;</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Submission of an annual report which includes service utilization statistics in the format prescribed;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Written transfer agreements to provide acute inpatient care as needed; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vii">
        <text>Minimum standards concerning the training and role of volunteers in a hospice care program.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
