On September 8, 2016 the Federal Register posted the final rule Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers. The regulation went into effect on
November 15, 2016 and surveyors can audit compliance as early as November 16, 2017. Health care providers and suppliers must be in compliance with Emergency Preparedness regulations to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid program. This rule was enacted to establish national emergency preparedness requirements to ensure adequate planning for both natural and man-made disasters, and coordination with federal, state, regional and local emergency preparedness systems. There are 17 provider types affected by this final rule:
- Inpatient Facilities: Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities, Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Religious Nonmedical Health Care Institutions Long Term Care Facilities, and Transplant Centers
- Outpatient facilities: Hospice, Ambulatory Surgical Center, Program for the All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, Home Health Agencies, Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Community Mental Health Centers, Organ Procurement Organizations, Rural Health Clinics/Federally Qualified Health Centers, End Stage Renal Disease Facilities, and Clinics, Rehabilitation Agencies, and Public Health Agencies as Providers of Outpatient Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology Services
Four Core Elements of Emergency Preparedness
- Risk Assessment and Emergency Planning (Include but not limited to):
- Hazards likely in geographic area including man made (all hazards approach)
- Care-related emergencies
- Equipment and Power failures
- Interruption in Communications, including cyber attacks
- Loss of all/portion of facility
- Loss of all/portion of supplies
- Plan is to be reviewed and updated at least annually
- Communication Plan
- Complies with Federal and State laws
- System to Contact Staff, including patients’ physicians, other necessary persons
- Well-coordinated within the facility, across health care providers, and with state and local public health departments and emergency management agencies.
- Policies and Procedures
- Complies with Federal and State laws
- Training and Testing
- Complies with Federal and State laws
- Maintain and at a minimum update annually
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