HOME HEALTH

[Becky Thompson]

Does anyone know if an order is still needed to accept an order from a secondary physician in home health?  

[BBP42]

If I understand you correctly, yes. If the surgeon is signing for the overall plan of care for a postop patient, and the primary care MD orders something new, say a change in medication, where I work we would send an order for that med change to the second MD that actually ordered it.

[MeggyBeth, RN]

some of this is dependent on your state's Home Health guidelines, some of this is dependent on your agency's accreditation policies, but overall you should abide by your agency's specific policy. The agency I work for requires a signature for ALL medications (even a topical OTC like desitin for diaper rash). The nurse in the home is able to generate a Physician Order at any time, once that order is submitted in our documentation program we are able to print it off & fax it to the physician for signature.
We generally run ER/ED meds through the PCP (because tracking down the ER/ED docs/PAs/NPs is a pain). 
Generally, like BBP42 stated, we run meds through whatever provider ordered them. The only exception I can think of is we generally run ER/ED meds through the PCP because tracking down the ER/ED docs/interns/PAs/NPs is a pain.