1. Understanding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Rule
January 19, 2017
Jeanine Posey
Florida Department of Health

2. Goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized rule:
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.

3. Over the past several years, and most recently in Louisiana,
a number of natural and man-made disasters have put the health and safety of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries – and the public at large – at risk.
new requirements 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.  

4. After reviewing the current Medicare emergency preparedness regulations for both providers and suppliers:
CMS found regulatory requirements were not comprehensive enough to address the complexities of emergency preparedness.

5. For example, previous requirements did not address the need for:
(1) communication to coordinate with other systems of care within cities or states
(2) contingency planning
(3) training of personnel
The CMS rule attempts to address these gaps.

6. After careful consideration of stakeholder comments on the proposed rule, this final rule requires:
Medicare and Medicaid participating providers and suppliers to meet the following four common and well known industry best practice standards…

7. Four Best Practice Standards:

8. The Standards are Adjusted to Reflect Characteristics of Each type of Provider and Supplier:
Outpatient providers and suppliers such as Ambulatory Surgical Centers and End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities will not be required to have policies and procedures for provision of subsistence needs.
Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, and Long Term Care facilities will be required to install and maintain emergency and standby power systems based on their emergency plan.

9. Categories of Providers and Suppliers
Hospitals
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
Rural Health Clinics RHCs & FQHCs
Long-Term Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF))
Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)
Hospice
Inpatient Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs)
Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

10. Categories of Providers and Suppliers (cont.)
10. Transplant Centers
11. Religious Nonmedical Health Care Institutions (RNHCIs)
12. Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID)
13. Clinics, Rehab. Agencies, & Public Health Agencies as Providers of Outpatient Physical Therapy & Speech Language Pathology Services
14. Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (CORFs)
15. Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs)
16. Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs)
17. End-Stage Rental Disease (ESRD) Facilities

11. HPP Grantees and Their Sub-Recipients May:
Provide funding to individual hospitals or other health care entities, as long as the funding is used for activities to advance regional, HCC, or health care system-wide priorities, and are in line with ASPR’s four health care preparedness and response capabilities.
Coalitions should support other preparedness efforts, HOWEVER, funding to individual health care entities is not permitted to be used to meet CMS CoPs, including for the CMS EP Rule.

12. HCCs Should Expect Health Care Entities to Ask for Assistance with:
Obtaining copies of the coalition or regionally conducted hazard vulnerability analysis or risk assessments (or to be included in future assessments).
Identifying examples of plans, policies, and procedures that are frequently used or accepted by other entities within those coalitions.

13. Assistance (cont.):
Engaging in training and exercises conducted by coalitions or coalition members.
Exploring participation in or leveraging of shared services, such as communications systems, patient tracking systems, and other jointly used equipment and supplies.
Providing basic information on emergency preparedness and healthcare system preparedness.

14. More Assistance (cont.):
Providing technical assistance support to help meet conditions of the CMS EP Rule. Though HPP funding may not be provided to individual health care entities to meet these requirements, HCCs can provide technical assistance such as:
Developing emergency plans. HCCs are permitted to use HPP funding to develop the staffing capacity and technical expertise to assist their members with this requirement. An alternative would be to contract or use membership fees from the covered entities to support this capacity and expertise.

15. Examples of Technical Assistance:
Developing standard policies and procedures. HCCs are permitted to use HPP funding for the staffing capacity and technical expertise to assist their members with this requirement so long as the HCC can still fulfill the cooperative agreement capabilities.
Developing a communication plan that integrates HCC’s communications policies and procedures. HCCs are permitted to use HPP funding for costs associated with adding new providers and suppliers to their HCC who are seeking to join coalitions to coordinate patient care across providers, public health departments, and emergency systems (e.g., hiring additional staff to coordinate with the new members, providing communications equipment and platforms to new members, conducting communications exercises, securing meeting spaces, etc.).

16. Technical Assistance (cont.):
The HCC should carefully consider whether equipment costs directly support the cooperative agreement capabilities and coordination of patient care.
Coalitions should weigh the costs and benefits of including new members in communications systems, and the sustainability of these commitments. Information sharing systems used for covered partners that do not provide acute/ emergency care may be different than those used with core partners.
Plan for and conduct education, trainings, and exercises at the regional or HCC level, but not facility level.

17. CMS Rule should prompt HCCs to:
Proactively engage the new provider types and offer assistance.
Engage in community activities and provide support to the community response framework.
Serve as a key resource for newly covered providers.

18. CMS Rule Should prompt HCCs (cont.):
Explore opportunities for investment in the health care coalition by collaborating and working with the newly covered providers (e.g., new membership fees, developing contract agreements for training or exercises).
Be Deliberate about defining the boundaries of support under the cooperative agreement. Due to the breadth of the new provider types, coalitions must consider priorities.

19. Questions ? Jeanine.posey@flhealth.gov