Hospitals Want CMS To Provide Guidance On New Rule Requiring COVID-19 Data Reporting To HHS
- October 02, 2020
Bloomberg Law (10/1, Pugh, Subscription Publication) says, “Hospitals say they’re driving blind without guidelines to interpret a new rule from the Trump administration requiring them to report daily COVID-19 data to the federal government.” This “interim final rule, which took effect Sept. 2, requires the nation’s 6,200 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified hospitals to provide daily updates to the Department of Health and Human Services on numerous Covid-related measures like infections, test results, ICU patient counts, and supplies of protective gear.” Facilities which do not comply with the new rule could lose access to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, CMS warned. The Federation of American Hospitals wrote to CMS saying “the rule ‘undermines the ongoing collaboration and good will to which CMS committed itself at the beginning of the public health emergency.’” Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association wants CMS to provide guidance on the changes.