ACHCA heard today from Mary Elizabeth (Liz) Chesney, Contract Support, National Healthcare Preparedness Programs, HHS/ASPR/OEM. She reported the following information:
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized rules to establish consistent emergency preparedness requirements for health care providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid, increase patient safety during emergencies, and establish a more coordinated response to natural and man-made disasters. These new rules will require certain participating providers and suppliers to plan for disasters and coordinate with federal, state, tribal, regional, and local emergency preparedness systems to ensure that facilities are adequately prepared to meet the needs of their patients during disasters and emergency situations. The effective date will be November 16, 2016 and the implementation date will be November 16, 2017. [emphasis added]
HPP anticipates that health care entities that have not previously engaged in community preparedness will seek to do so through participation in HCCs. The CMS rules offer HCCs a tremendous opportunity to achieve greater organizational and community effectiveness and financial sustainability through a more inclusive preparedness community. Although the over 26,000 health care organizations already engaged in community preparedness through HCCs may already meet or exceed the baseline level of preparedness in the CMS rules, HCCs will also function as an accessible source of preparedness and response best practices as newly engaged provider types adapt to the new requirements.
In addition, ASPR TRACIE has a dedicated page with links to resources that can help health care entities start or update their planning processes. ASPR TRACIE will work closely with CMS to gather and share relevant resources and help with assistance requests. ASPR TRACIE and CMS will also host a joint presentation on Wednesday, December 14, 2016, to discuss the CMS Emergency Preparedness Regulations. Additional details to come.
The finalized CMS rules can be accessed here: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection
The CMS press release can be accessed here: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2016-Press-releases-items/2016-09-08.html
