Except for care furnished to patients in a freestanding IRF hospital solely to relieve acute care hospital capacity in a state (or region, as applicable) that is experiencing a surge, as defined in
§ 412.622, during the Public Health Emergency, as defined in
§ 400.200 of this chapter, have in effect a procedure to ensure that patients receive close medical supervision, as evidenced by at least 3 face-to-face visits per week by a licensed physician with specialized training and experience in inpatient rehabilitation to assess the patient both medically and functionally, as well as to modify the course of treatment as needed to maximize the patient's capacity to benefit from the rehabilitation process except that during the Public Health Emergency, as defined in
§ 400.200 of this chapter, for the COVID-19 pandemic such visits may be conducted using telehealth services (as defined in section 1834(m)(4)(F) of the Act). Beginning with the second week, as defined in
§ 412.622, of admission to the IRF, a non-physician practitioner who is determined by the IRF to have specialized training and experience in inpatient rehabilitation may conduct 1 of the 3 required face-to-face visits with the patient per week, provided that such duties are within the non-physician practitioner's scope of practice under applicable state law.