For a referral to be valid, what must the agency have?

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Adequate patient information is essential because it provides everything the agency needs to understand who the patient is and why home care is needed. This includes basic identifiers and contact details, the patient’s current medical information, diagnosis or reason for referral, functional status, medications, and any orders or directives from the physician. With complete information, the agency can determine eligibility, plan the appropriate level of care, coordinate with the treating clinician, arrange scheduling, and ensure safety and continuity of care. Without enough information, the referral can’t be acted on reliably, and important steps like confirming medical necessity and obtaining appropriate authorizations may be delayed.

A hospitalist signature, a transfer date, or a specific deadline are not universally required to validate a referral; they may be relevant in certain settings but do not universally establish a valid referral the way complete patient information does.