CMS released its Omnibus Burden Reduction final rule Sept. 26, which aims to cut healthcare administrative costs and paperwork.
Five things to know about the rule:
1. CMS will allow systems with multiple hospitals to have "unified and integrated" Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement programs and infection control and antibiotic stewardship programs for all member hospitals.
2. Hospitals will have flexibility to set up a policy detailing the circumstances under which medical staff could use a presurgery/preprocedure assessment for an outpatient, rather than a comprehensive medical history and physical exam.
3. CMS will let critical access hospitals perform reviews of their policies and procedures less frequently.
4. CMS will also formally review the patient care policies and facilities of rural health centers and federally qualified health centers every two years rather than annually.
5. Overall, the federal government estimates the final burden reduction rule will save providers 4.4 million hours of time on paperwork annually and about $8 billion over the next decade.
Read the full final rule here.
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