(a) Every disease management organization shall obtain physician authorization prior to the time that the disease management organization, its employees, or independent contractors do either of the following:
(1) Provide home health care services utilized in the treatment of a patient.
(2) Dispense, administer, or prescribe a prescription medication.
(b) For purposes of this section, a valid prescription written by a treating physician shall constitute authorization to dispense a prescription medication.
(c) Home health care followup visits made solely for patient assessment, monitoring, or education are not subject to the physician authorization requirement in subdivision (a).
(d) Nothing in this section, in the absence of authorization granted by any other law, shall be construed to authorize the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a).
(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1065, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)