The UR plan must provide that—

(a) When a beneficiary is admitted to the hospital under the admission review requirements of this subpart, the committee assigns a specified date by which the need for his continued stay will be reviewed;

(b) The committee bases its assignment of the initial continued stay review date on—

(1) The methods and criteria required to be described under § 456.129;

(2) The individual's condition; and

(3) The individual's projected discharge date;

(c)(1) The committee uses any available appropriate regional medical care appraisal norms, such as those developed by abstracting services or third party payors, to assign the initial continued stay review date;

(2) These regional norms are based on current and statistically valid data on duration of stay in hospitals for patients whose characteristics, such as age and diagnosis, are similar to those of the individual whose case is being reviewed;

(3) If the committee uses norms to assign the initial continued stay review date, the number of days between the individual's admission and the initial continued stay review date is no greater than the number of days reflected in the 50th percentile of the norms. However, the committee may assign a later review date if it documents that the later date is more appropriate; and

(d) The committee ensures that the initial continued stay review date is recorded in the individual's record.