CMS Allocates Additional Support for ACOs – On October 15, 2014, CMS announced that it will allocate up to $114 million towards 75 ACOs in order to encourage development in areas lacking the care models.  CMS said that the upfront investments will “help increase the number of beneficiaries – regardless of geographic location – that can benefit from lower costs and improved health care through Medicare ACOs.”  CMS’s press release regarding the increase is available here.

CMS Urges Hospitals to Adopt CDC Guidance to Prepare for Potential Ebola Patients – In response to the ongoing Ebola crisis, the CMS Survey and Certification Group issued a memorandum urging all hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to adopt the measures contained in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) recently released Health Advisory Alert. The Health Advisory Alert, issued on October 2, 2014, includes an evaluation checklist and an algorithm for evaluating patients for Ebola. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden also encouraged hospitals treating Ebola patients to adopt a full-time supervisor to oversee, supervise, and monitor infection control efforts in his October 16th testimony before Congress.