On February 8, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a quality standard memorandum (QSO Memo) updating and revising a memorandum it issued on January 5, 2018, to now permit the texting of patient...more
Looking for compliance education and networking in your area? HCCA’s Regional Healthcare Compliance Conferences offer practitioners convenient, local compliance education that covers a wide variety of current and emerging...more
On 6 July 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a rule proposing the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for Medicare and Medicaid participation of rural emergency hospitals (REHs), to be codified...more
In a November 12, 2021 revision of its prior draft guidelines for hospital co-location compliance with Medicare conditions of participation (COP) for hospitals (QSO-19-13), CMS has apparently softened its approach to...more
On November 12, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued finalized guidance (“Guidance”) clarifying that hospitals can share space, services, or personnel with another hospital or health care provider...more
On November 12, 2021, CMS released “final guidance” for state survey agencies regarding shared space and co-location arrangements between hospitals and other hospitals or healthcare providers. This guidance is intended to...more
In this week’s episode, Gina Bertolini discusses two important aspects of the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule that directly relate to health care providers, and how those aspects of the Final Rule will...more
In a stunning move, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has linked reporting and tracking of the incidence and impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease to satisfaction of the Medicare Conditions of...more
On March 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its Interoperability and Patient Access Rule (Interoperability Rule), which aims to enhance patients’ control over their healthcare information. As...more
As part of its continued efforts to ease burdens on healthcare providers during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a slew of additional waivers on March...more
Our Health Care Group analyzes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ long-awaited final rule on discharge planning, focused on data sharing and patient preferences....more
On July 9, 2019, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) released two reports addressing hospice deficiencies and the risks, potential harm, and actual harm those deficiencies posed...more
On May 3, 2019, CMS published draft guidance regarding space sharing between co-located hospitals and hospitals co-located with other health care entities. ...more
On May 3, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued draft guidance to be used by state survey agencies in reviewing how shared space, services, personnel and emergency services can be organized by...more
CMS issued a long-awaited proposed rule aimed at enhancing interoperability and increasing patient access to health information. If finalized, CMS’s proposed rule may require hospitals and payors to make significant...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a fact sheet related to proposed regulations addressing conditions of participation (CoPs) and conditions for coverage (CfCs). ...more
Hospital-based telemedicine services continue to rapidly expand across the country, allowing providers to deliver care to rural areas and better allocate the staffing and availability of specialist physicians such as...more
Texting by physicians and other health care providers has long been a hot topic due to the privacy and security considerations involved, although HIPAA and state laws have generally been at the center of this discussion....more
Text messaging has become an important communication tool. The number of text messages sent in the United States has grown exponentially from an estimated 12 million per month in 2000 to 780 billion per month in 2017....more
On December 28, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a memo to state survey agency directors clarifying its position on the use of text messaging among health care providers. ...more
After a confusing month of contradicting guidance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memorandum clarifying its position regarding the use of text messaging with patient information between providers....more
On November 17, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Memorandum to State Survey Agency Directors outlining the process by which Medicare will eliminate existing Home Health Agency (HHA)...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued new Conditions of Participation (CoP) for home health agencies (HHA) that are effective January 13, 2018. The CoP were originally scheduled to take effect on...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a draft of interpretive guidelines (Guidelines) to the Home Health agency Conditions of Participation (the COPs). After having previously been delayed, the COPs...more
With recent changes to the Hospital within Hospital (“HwH”) rules, is it easier to meet the HwH standards? Likely, not. HwHs are hospitals excluded from the inpatient prospective payment system (“IPPS”), such as psychiatric,...more