The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Center for Health Care Quality has issued an All Facilities Letter (AFL) for a stakeholder meeting April 3. The meeting will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at 1500 Capitol Ave., Training Room A, Sacramento to discuss general acute care hospital (GACH) cardiac catheterization laboratory service regulations.
President Trump today declared a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration is retroactive to March 1 and allows the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements of the Medicare, Medicaid, state Children’s Health Insurance Programs, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rule throughout the duration of the emergency. Details of the waiver under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act are not yet available, although during the President’s press conference, he mentioned expanding telehealth; waiving the critical access hospital bed limit and length-of-stay requirement; and waiving the requirement for a three-day hospital stay prior to reimbursing skilled-nursing facility services.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released the following information:
MACPAC Releases March 2020 Report to Congress
March 24 Webinar: IPFQR Program: Navigating the Hospital Compare Website
IRF Compare and LTCH Compare Quarterly Refresh Available
Hospice, IRF, LTCH Provider Preview Reports Available for Review Until April 13
2020 MIPS Facility-Based Status Available
2020 CAHPS for MIPS Survey Vendor Applications Due March 18
March 25 Webinar: CMS QRDA Category I Implementation Guide Changes for CY 2020 Hospital Quality Reporting
April 7: Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule Call
April 14: LTCH and IRF Quality Reporting Programs: SPADEs Webinar
Yesterday, CHA sent a letter to the California congressional delegation asking for immediate action in support of the response to COVID-19 by member hospitals and health systems.
As CHA continues to work on its legislative agenda, an update on bills currently being tracked on behalf of hospitals is available in our Legislative Update.
On Monday, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development submitted a report to the Legislature with recommendations on how to establish and maintain a health care payment database in California. The report was submitted in advance of the July 1 deadline required by Assembly Bill 1810 (statutes of 2018) and includes 36 recommendations that were unanimously approved by a review committee of health care stakeholders. Per the statutes, the database must be substantially completed no later than July 1, 2023.
CHA DataSuite has released hospital-specific analyses showing the trends in Medicare margins over the most recent 10-year period (federal fiscal years 2009-18). The margins are shown graphically for hospitals and various comparison groups.
On Monday, CHA issued a media statement about the new statewide Office of Health Care Affordability. The office is part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to limit health care spending across public and private sectors in a broad effort to contain rising costs.
Registration is now open for the sixth annual Hospital Quality Institute Patient Safety Conference. This year’s conference will be held in both Northern and Southern California — with a Long Beach conference set for Sept. 29-30 and a Napa event to be held Nov. 15-16.
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued two long-awaited final rules — one from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the other from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) — intended to improve the interoperability of health information. The final rules include provisions for hospitals and other providers, health plans, and health information technology vendors.
