HHS Finalizes New Rules to Cut Regulations for Hospitals and Health Care Providers, Savings More Than $5 Billion Changes Will Reduce Costs and Allow More Focus on Medical Care
On May 9, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced significant steps to reduce unnecessary, obsolete, or burdensome regulations on American hospitals and health care providers. These steps will help achieve the key goal of President Obama's regulatory reform initiative to reduce unnecessary burdens on business and save nearly $1.1 billion across the health care system in the first year and more than $5 billion over five years. The new rules were issued on May 9 by CMS. The first rule revises the Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs). CMS estimates that annual savings to hospitals and CAHs will be approximately $940 million per year. The second, the Medicare Regulatory Reform rule, will produce savings of $200 million in the first year by promoting efficiency. This rule eliminates duplicative, overlapping, and outdated regulatory requirements for health care providers. Among other changes, the final rules will: * Increase flexibility for hospitals by allowing one governing body to oversee multiple hospitals in a single health system; * Let CAHs partner with other providers so they can be more efficient and ensure the safe and timely delivery of care to their patients; * Require that all eligible candidates, including advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, be reviewed by medical staff for potential appointment to the hospital medical staff and then be granted all of the privileges, rights, and responsibilities accorded to appointed medical staff members; and * Eliminate obsolete regulations, including outmoded infection control instructions for ambulatory surgical centers; outdated Medicaid qualification standards for physical and occupational therapists; and duplicative requirements for governing bodies of organ procurement organizations. View the Medicare CoPs final rule<http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-05-16/pdf/2012-11548.pdf> and the Medicare Regulatory Reform final rule<http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-05-16/pdf/2012-11543.pdf>. For additional information on the Hospital and other CoPs, visit the Conditions for Coverage (CfCs) & Conditions of Participations (CoPs) website<http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/CFCsAndCoPs/index.html?redirect=/CFCsAndCoPs/01_Overview.asp>. Full text of this excerpted CMS press release<http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4362&intNumPerPage=10&checkDate=&checkKey=&srchType=1&numDays=3500&srchOpt=0&srchData=&keywordType=All&chkNewsType=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5&intPage=&showAll=&pYear=&year=&desc=&cboOrder=date> (issued May 9). ________________________________ If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads//MailingLists_FactSheet.pdf<http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads/MailingLists_FactSheet.pdf> . If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/ContactCMS/index.html). Thank you.
