In a Nov. 19 letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), America’s Essential Hospitals encouraged the agency to continue its efforts to reduce regulatory burden at essential hospitals, including through refining Medicare and Medicaid conditions of participation (CoPs).
The letter was sent in response to a proposed rule that, if finalized, will revise elements of CoPs to simplify and streamline processes; reduce the frequency of certain required activities; and remove obsolete, duplicative, or unnecessary requirements.
In its comments, America’s Essential Hospitals urged CMS to:
- finalize its proposals to refine emergency preparedness requirements by allowing flexibility in training, testing, and reviewing emergency programs;
- finalize its proposal to allow a unified and integrated infection control program and Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement program for multihospital systems to promote quality, safety, and efficiency;
- give hospitals the option to develop policies for a simplified patient assessment to alleviate undue burden on clinicians, hospitals, and patients; and
- continue to refine the CoPs for hospitals and mitigate the administrative burden that remains across all programs.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
