Some regulations clearly are unnecessary and the federal government is eliminating many!
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) is tweaking, overhauling and outright striking regulations identified as unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome on hospitals and other health care providers.
The rule is estimated to save health care providers more than $8 billion over the next five years.
This rule helps health care providers to operate more efficiently by getting rid of regulations that are out of date or no longer needed. Many of the rule’s provisions streamline health and safety standards health care providers must comply with in order to participate in Medicare and Medicaid.
For example, recent improvements in, and expansion of telemedicine services allow for physicians to provide certain types of care to remote facilities at lower costs.
The final rule allows certain federally qualified clinics and rural clinics to eliminate the need for a physician to be onsite at least once in every 2-week period.
Other Major provisions of the rule are:
- The new rule will save hospitals resources by permitting registered dietitians and qualified nutritionists to order patient diets directly, which they are trained to do, without requiring the pre-approval of a physician or other practitioner. This frees up time for physicians and other practitioners to care for patients.
- Eliminates unnecessary requirements that ambulatory surgical centers must meet in order to provide radiological services that are an integral part of their surgical procedures, permitting them greater flexibility for physician supervision requirements.
- Permits trained nuclear medicine technicians in hospitals to prepare radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine without the supervising physician or pharmacist constantly being present, which will help speed services to patients, particularly during off hours.
- Eliminates a redundant data submission requirement and an unnecessary survey process for transplant centers while maintaining strong federal oversight.
Hopefully, these changes will allow providers more time to care for patients rather than complying with needless regulations.
If you or your entity would like additional information regarding recent regulations, please do not hesitate to contact our office – we can help. For assistance CLICK HERE.
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