Follow ACMA
Twitter Facebook Linkedin Instagram
v
GO
Updates & Calls to ActionMake a Donation
PUBLIC POLICY UPDATES

CMS Announces Comprehensive Strategy to Enhance Hospital Capacity Amid COVID-19 Surge


Posted on: 12/2/2020

On November 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) outlined unprecedented comprehensive steps to increase the capacity of the American health care system to provide care to patients outside a traditional hospital setting amid a rising number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations across the country. These flexibilities include allowances for safe hospital care for eligible patients in their homes and updated staffing flexibility designed to allow ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) to provide greater inpatient care when needed.

Acute Hospital Care at Home

In March 2020, CMS announced the Hospitals Without Walls program, which provides broad regulatory flexibility that allowed hospitals to provide services in locations beyond their existing walls. CMS is expanding on this effort by executing an innovative Acute Hospital Care At Home program, providing eligible hospitals with unprecedented regulatory flexibilities to treat eligible patients in their homes.

To support these efforts, CMS has launched an online portal to streamline the waiver request process and allow hospitals and healthcare systems to submit the necessary information to ensure they meet the program’s criteria to participate. CMS will also closely monitor the program to safeguard beneficiaries by requiring hospitals to report quality and safety data to CMS on a frequency that is based on their prior experience with the Hospital At Home model.

Amublatory Surgical Center Flexibility

As part of Hospital Without Walls, CMS also previously announced regulatory flexibility that allowed ASCs – facilities that normally provide same-day surgical care – the ability to be temporarily certified as hospitals and provide inpatient care for longer periods than normally allowed, with the appropriate staffing in place. ASCs are normally subject to a requirement that patients only remain in their care for less than 24 hours or require admission to a regular hospital.

Last week, CMS announced an update to that regulatory flexibility, clarifying that participating ASCs need only provide 24-hour nursing services when there is actually one or more patient receiving care onsite. The program change provides ASCs enrolled as hospitals the ability to flex up their staffing when needed and provide an important relief valve in communities experiencing hospital capacity constraints, while not mandating nurses be present when no patients are in the ASC. The flexibility is available to any of the 5732 ASCs throughout the country seeking to participate and will be immediately effective for the 85 ASCs currently participating in the Hospital Without Walls initiative. CMS expects this flexibility will allow these and additional ASCs enrolled as hospitals to serve as an added access point that will allow communities to maintain surgical capacity and other life-saving non-COVID-19, like cancer surgeries. Allowing these types of treatments to occur in designated ASCs enrolled as hospitals while hospitals are managing any surges of COVID-19 would allow vulnerable patients to receive this needed care in settings without known COVID-19 cases.

View the Acute Hospital Care At Home Initiative >>>

View Guidance for Attestation Statements from ASCs >>>

View the FAQs >>>

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the ACMA Public Policy Committee contributed to this information.

Return to Legislative Postings

Announcements

LIMITED AVAILABILITY ANNIVERSARY PACKAGES! | ACMA 2024 National Conference

Join us for the 25th Anniversary ACMA National Conference, April 19-22, 2024 in Nashville, TN. Don't miss out on the most exciting case management conference of the year! Experience ACMA at National!

Save The Date | 2024 Leadership and Physician Advisor Conference

Our 2024 Leadership and Physician Advisor Conference is November 18-20 in Huntington Beach, CA! Health plans and providers, this conference has everything you need. Find out more here!

Share Your Research | Collaborative Case Management

Do you have a project or measurable initiative you've instituted at your organization? Have you conducted research on a current issue in the field? Share your experiences and results with your professional community! Email your proposal (or ask any questions): vmatthews@acmaweb.org. Learn More >>>

Get ACMA News in the Palm of Your Hand

Join the conversation with ACMA! Text the keyword ACMA to 844-554-2497 to stay up to date on all the latest news and announcements, delivered straight to your phone!

Now Accepting Presentations for Chapter Conferences

We are now accepting presentations for upcoming ACMA chapter conferences. If you have a unique solution, intervention or strategy to improve case management, this is a great opportunity to share your knowledge and be a part of ACMA's national-caliber education at the local level. There is no deadline to submit; presentations will be accepted throughout the year so you can prepare a submission as your schedule allows. Submit a presentation >>

National Case Management Week - Save The Date!

2024 - October 13-19
2025 - October 12-18
2026 - October 11-17
2027 - October 10-16
2028 - October 8-14

American Case Management Association
17200 Chenal Parkway Ste 300 #345
Little Rock, AR 72223
Phone: 501-907-ACMA (2262)
Fax: 501-227-4247