By Laura French
BALTIMORE — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has outlined new flexibilities for ambulance services and healthcare facilities in response to the COVID-19 national emergency.
Under the new guidelines, CMS has temporarily expanded the list of allowable ambulance transport destinations to include any destination that can provide treatment to the patient in accordance with state and local EMS protocols. The change aims to ensure hospitals have the capacity to handle a potential surge of COVID-19 patients.
The list of temporary expansion sites includes but is not limited to critical access hospitals (CAHs) and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), community mental health centers, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), physician’s offices, urgent care facilities, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), any location furnishing dialysis services, and the patient’s home.
CMS also announced its initiative to put “Patients Over Paperwork” by giving temporary relief from many paperwork, reporting and audit requirements.
Additionally, the new guidelines expand in-place COVID-19 testing and telehealth access for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and removes some barriers for the hiring of healthcare personnel from the community or from other states, so that healthcare systems can quickly expand their workforce.
Read the full CMS guidance
https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid-ambulances.pdf
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Learn more about COVID-19 response and government actions with these resources:
- NREMT extends 2020 recertification deadline, modifies requirements due to COVID-19
- NREMT approves provisional certifications during national emergency
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Minn. executive order extends deadline for state EMS certifications
- Minnesota issues ‘5-day Emergency Suspension of Ambulance Services’ memo
- Minn. EMS agencies asked to maintain normal operations during emergency
- EMS Compact declared operational
-
What EMS needs to know about Crisis Standards of Care and COVID-19