As much of the Southeastern United States continues to recover from the aftermath of Hurricanes Helen and Milton, healthcare providers are recognizing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) expanded flexibility and determining how much they will rely on it. need to be considered. To support public health emergencies (PHE) in affected states.
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helen and Milton, CMS extended additional resources to Medicare providers and certain health care facilities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
By way of background, during a PHE, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary may temporarily waive certain HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements for hospitals.
During a recent PHE, HHS issued HIPAA-related waivers lasting up to 72 hours for hospitals that declared a state of emergency and activated disaster protocols. This includes the following exemptions: Distribution of HIPAA Privacy Notices. Patient Rights to Request Privacy Restrictions and Confidential Communications. Communication with family and friends involved in care. and opt out of the facility directory. Health Information Privacy PHE answers can be found here here.
CMS provided additional exemptions, such as medical staff flexibility, to affected health care providers to address workforce shortages and ease the burden of certification and privilege processes.
Examples of other CMS waivers issued to affected hospitals and healthcare facilities during recent PHEs include:
- EMTALA flexibility: Allowing patient screening outside hospital campuses
- Surge capacity and space usage: Allow non-patient areas to be repurposed for patient care as long as the state approves and safety is ensured.
- telemedicine: Authorize the provision of telehealth services to patients through off-site hospital agreements to expand access to care. and,
- Temporary expansion location: Authorizes the establishment of additional qualifying care locations, including existing provider-based units, to expand emergency response capacity.
These flexibilities will remain in place until the PHE is revoked. Find additional information about each state’s exemptions and current emergency exemptions. here.
CMS’s waivers are intended to increase flexibility and capacity to meet the demands of the health care system. Hurricanes Helen and Milton served as a stark reminder of CMS requirements (including conditions of participation) in disaster planning to adequately prepare for and respond to such events.
To further the goal of continuity of care during natural disasters, healthcare providers and institutions must maintain preparedness plans and understand the flexibility available to respond to emergencies.
