The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memorandum providing guidance for the expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). Many waivers and flexibilities provided during the PHE will expire May 11, 2023, including:
- Hospital and health system staff vaccination requirements
- EMTALA waiver allowing for the screening of patients at offsite locations
- Waivers for discharge planning and patient-specific nursing care plan requirements
- Flexibilities permitting the provision of care in temporary expansion sites
- Expanded swing bed authorization for patients not requiring acute care
- Waiver of the critical access hospital (CAH) 96-hour length of stay requirement
- Certain CAH personnel qualifications and licensure flexibilities
- Waiver of certain quality assessment and performance improvement (QAPI) program requirements
A PHE compliance checklist is also provided by PYA, a consulting firm that provides complementary resources for healthcare entities on various topics on its website, including the No Surprises Act, federal price transparency, and other topics. This checklist may be a helpful guide and notes the varying dates that specific flexibilities end. Note it is based on the CMS rules and would not reflect any state-specific changes or flexibilities. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)
