Any person or public agency licensed under section 3712.04 of the Revised Code to provide a hospice care program shall:

(A) Provide a planned and continuous hospice care program, the medical components of which shall be under the direction of a physician;

(B) Ensure that care is available twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week;

(C) Establish an interdisciplinary plan of care for each hospice patient and the patient’s family that:

(1) Is coordinated by one designated individual who shall ensure that all components of the plan of care are addressed and implemented;

(2) Addresses maintenance of patient-family participation in decision making; and

(3) Is periodically reviewed by the patient’s attending physician and by the patient’s interdisciplinary team.

(D) Have an interdisciplinary team or teams that provide or supervise the provision of care and establish the policies governing the provision of the care;

(E) Provide bereavement counseling for hospice patients’ families;

(F) Not discontinue care because of a hospice patient’s inability to pay for the care;

(G) Maintain central clinical records on all hospice patients under its care; and

(H) Provide care in individuals’ homes, on an outpatient basis, and on a short-term inpatient basis.

A provider of a hospice care program may include pharmacist services among the other services that are made available to its hospice patients.

A provider of a hospice care program may arrange for another person or public agency to furnish a component or components of the hospice care program pursuant to a written contract. When a provider of a hospice care program arranges for a hospital, a home providing nursing care, or home health agency to furnish a component or components of the hospice care program to its patient, the care shall be provided by a licensed, certified, or accredited hospital, home providing nursing care, or home health agency pursuant to a written contract under which:

(1) The provider of a hospice care program furnishes to the contractor a copy of the hospice patient’s interdisciplinary plan of care that is established under division (C) of this section and specifies the care that is to be furnished by the contractor;

(2) The regimen described in the established plan of care is continued while the hospice patient receives care from the contractor, subject to the patient’s needs, and with approval of the coordinator of the interdisciplinary team designated pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section;

(3) All care, treatment, and services furnished by the contractor are entered into the hospice patient’s medical record;

(4) The designated coordinator of the interdisciplinary team ensures conformance with the established plan of care; and

(5) A copy of the contractor’s medical record and discharge summary is retained as part of the hospice patient’s medical record.

Any hospital contracting for inpatient care shall be encouraged to offer temporary limited privileges to the hospice patient’s attending physician while the hospice patient is receiving inpatient care from the hospital.

(I) Notify a veteran, spouse, surviving spouse, or representative on behalf of the veteran, seeking services from the hospice care agency that the veteran, spouse, or surviving spouse, may be eligible for health care or financial benefits through the United States department of veterans affairs and provide the veteran, spouse, surviving spouse, or representative with information about congressionally chartered veterans service organizations or the county veterans service office that can assist with investigating and applying for benefits through the United States department of veterans affairs. As used in this division, “veteran” has the same meaning as in section 5901.01 of the Revised Code.