Home Health & Hospice Week
New Emergency Preparedness Requirement On Deck
Will your current plan meet the newly proposed regulatory mandate?
You’ve probably already got an emergency preparedness plan in place, but now Medicare wants to make sure it’s up to snuff.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to mandate that 17 provider types including home health agencies and hospices have adequate emergency preparedness plans, it says in the Dec. 27, 2013, Federal Register.
"As a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the subsequent anthrax attacks, the catastrophic hurricanes in the Gulf Coast states in 2005, flooding in the Midwestern states in 2008, tornadoes and floods in the spring of 2011, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, readiness for public health emergencies has been put on the national agenda," CMS says in the rule.
Providers’ emergency plans should include four elements, CMS proposes: risk assessment and planning; policies and procedures; communication plan; and training and testing.
You’ve got until Feb. 25 to submit comments on the new requirements online at https://federalregister.gov/a/2013-30724.
Do this: "Home health and hospice pro-viders should conduct a thorough analysis of their emergency preparedness plans to determine gaps and obtain an accurate burden estimate related to implementing the proposed requirements," the National Association for Home Care & Hospice advises.
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