CMS Issues Coronavirus Testing and Reporting Requirements

On August 25, 2020, the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies (CMS) issued an interim remaining rule with remark interval, which establishes new COVID-19 testing and reporting necessities for quite a lot of well being care suppliers, together with nursing amenities, medical laboratories, and hospitals. These provisions take instant impact and can proceed by the length of the COVID-19 public well being emergency.

New COVID-19 Testing and Reporting Necessities

Long run care amenities reminiscent of nursing properties are required to conduct COVID-19 testing of their residents and workers, together with people offering companies beneath association and volunteers. The frequency of such testing will probably be clarified in future steerage from the Secretary of the Division of Well being and Human Companies (HHS), nevertheless, the interim rule references the already revealed Heart for Illness Management (CDC) steerage to nursing properties for testing, which establishes completely different testing intervals primarily based on medical situations. As well as, long run care amenities now should additionally report facility information referring to COVID-19 and an infection management to the CDC Nationwide Well being Security Community not less than weekly. Such information contains, amongst different issues, suspected and confirmed COVID-19 infections amongst residents and workers, together with residents beforehand handled for COVID-19, complete COVID-19 associated deaths amongst residents and workers, in addition to private protecting gear (PPE) and hand hygiene provides within the facility. The interim remaining rule represents the newest in a sequence of federal authorities initiatives to extend COVID-19 testing in nursing amenities. Beforehand, CMS supplied reopening suggestions to nursing amenities which included preliminary and routine testing suggestions. In July, the federal authorities introduced the discharge of an extra $5 billion allotted to nursing properties from the Supplier Reduction Fund beneath the Coronavirus Assist, Reduction and Financial Safety (CARES) Act.

Hospitals, which heretofore have been voluntarily offering COVID-19 info to CMS, at the moment are required to take action every day with a purpose to keep participation within the Medicare and Medicaid packages. As with the long run care facility reporting, the info components required to be reported will probably be recognized by the Secretary of HHS in future steerage, however the interim remaining rule signifies that such components will embody: mattress occupancy, PPE provides, and a depend of sufferers presently hospitalized who’ve laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Such necessary common reporting will probably be achieved electronically utilizing a standardized format.

Beneath the CARES Act, CLIA licensed medical laboratories that carry out COVID-19 testing should report these outcomes to HHS. In June, HHS issued steerage to laboratories for such reporting The interim remaining rule memorializes and enforces the steerage by mandating every day reporting in a standardized format. As soon as once more, the info components required to be reported will probably be recognized by the Secretary of HHS in future steerage. Laboratories that fail to fulfill the reporting necessities face the potential for civil cash penalties within the quantity of $1,000 a day for the primary day and $500 for every subsequent day.

CMS additionally has revised its coverage which allowed for broad COVID-19 testing for a single Medicare beneficiary and not using a doctor or different practitioner order. Now, CMS has dominated that one single COVID-19 diagnostic take a look at and considered one of one another associated checks (that are listed within the Could eighth CMS interim remaining rule) and not using a treating doctor or different practitioner order is cheap and mandatory. As well as, CMS is establishing a coverage whereby the orders of pharmacists and different practitioners who’re allowed to order laboratory checks in accordance with state scope of apply and different pertinent legal guidelines can fulfill the necessities referring to orders for coated COVID-19 checks for Medicare sufferers. The explanations behind such coverage adjustments are to remove pointless testing whereas guaranteeing Medicare beneficiaries have expanded entry to COVID-19 testing.