Dorm rooms as hospitals, ER telehealth: CMS creates 'unprecedented' flexibility as COVID-19 rages on

UPDATE: April 1, 2020: Hospital groups on Tuesday applauded the actions from CMS, with the American Hospital Association calling the ability to care for patients outside of hospitals' four walls a "critical lifeline in the the fight against COVID-19. AHA said it would "continue to work on additional waiver suggestions." Dive Brief: CMS on Monday announced an "unprecedented range" of temporary regulatory changes aimed at helping providers boost capacity and staff to treat patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes mean hospitals can bill for services provided outside their buildings so that patients can be screened offsite or through virtual encounters. Ambulatory surgery centers will be able to contract with local health systems to provide hospital services such as cancer care and necessary surgeries and bill as hospitals. Approved non-hospital spaces like dorm rooms or hotels can be used for patient care and quarantine purposes. Also, physician-owned hospitals will now be able to increase the number of licensed beds and operating rooms during the emergency. Also included are a relaxing of guidelines to allow health systems to hire clinicians in the community who would otherwise be providing nonessential services. And physician assistants, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists and others will have more ability to practice at the top of their licenses by performing services that would otherwise need physician approval, such as prescribing and ordering tests.