Posted on Friday, June 2, 2017 4:10 PM
In September of 2016 the Federal Register posted the final rule on Emergency Preparedness for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers with an effective date of November, 16th, 2017. Home health and hospice are included in the 17 named entities that must comply with this ruling. Many have hoped the rule would be delayed, but to date, there is no sign a delay will happen given CMS believes the one year time span from publishing the rule to implementation has been ample for preparation.
Some organizations are well into the planning and preparation to meet the new regulations and others haven’t even started and aren’t sure where to even begin. As with many of the regulations set forth, smaller, rural organizations will struggle to meet the regulations due to the cost of implementation and a lack of resources to plan and oversee the requirements.
CMS states sound, timely planning will provide the foundation for effective emergency management. Given many emergencies, natural disasters or man-made disasters may involve the entire community it is essential response planning is coordinated across many entities throughout the community including health care providers, emergency medical services, public health departments, medical laboratories, law enforcement, and communication systems. To assist organizations in starting their planning efforts and to provide guidance on where to start CMS has posted the following phases of a comprehensive emergency management program:
1. Hazard Identification
2. Hazard Mitigation
3. Preparedness
4. Response
5. Recovery
As organizations work through the phases of a comprehensive emergency preparedness and management program they must include the basic requirements of the rule including Risk Assessment, Communication Plan, Policies and Procedures that address all aspects of their Emergency Plan to meet Federal and State requirements and Training and Education of all staff to meet Federal and State requirements.
Lastly, CMS has provided an Emergency Preparedness checklist as another resource to assist organizations on this very important and critical regulation.
To read the entire article, please click here.
Written by Peggy Patton RN, Corridor’s Vice President of Education Services
About Corridor
Corridor is the nation’s preferred partner and trusted business advisor to home health and hospice providers, providing quality services and impactful results for 30 years. Focusing on key operational, regulatory and financial challenges, Corridor delivering industry-unique solutions and deep expertise in coding, clinical documentation review, compliance, billing and collections , consulting and provider staff education . At Corridor, we make the business of caring for people Better! For the most important industry updates and news that impacts home health and hospice, please make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive the latest up-to-date industry information direct to your inbox!
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