CMS has proposed some rules to scale back outdates regulations to cut red tape in an effort to slice another $5 billion in the US health care bill over five years, the HHS (Department of Health & Human Services) has announced. The Obama Administration says this move will help at least 6,000 hospitals and healthcare providers.
The HHS explained that regulations are there to protect people from harm. However, some of them become obsolete and burdensome – simply outdated.
Vice President Joe Biden, said:
“The President and I have challenged agencies to hunt down burdensome regulations. Today’s steps will remove outdated, duplicative, unnecessary burdens on hospitals – saving money and improving care.”
One of the proposed changes makes the care planning process more streamlined. At the moment, different care plans have to be filed by various health care professionals separately – doctors, pharmacists, nurses, etc. – for each patient. In the proposed change, an interdisciplinary team would be in charge of this; one per patient.
At the moment there are separate boards in each hospital in the system. Under the new proposal hospital systems would have just one governance board.
The CMS says that its proposed rules, if implemented, would save hospitals over $900 million annually.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said:
“President Obama has been clear: it’s time to cut the red tape. Our new proposals eliminate unnecessary and obsolete standards and free up resources so hospitals and doctors can focus on treating patients.”
Another proposal involves addressing regulatory requirements for non-hospital providers – the HHS says this could save up to $200 million in the first year alone. The new rule would identify and start to eliminate obsolete, duplicative, overlapping, and clashing regulatory requirements for providers and suppliers, such as end-stage kidney disease facilities and suppliers of durable medical equipment. CMS quotes as examples, reforms on out-of-date e-prescribing technical requirements to meet today’s standards and eliminate other obsolete and burdensome requirements for providers of healthcare.
Another CMS proposal, which is expected to save ambulatory surgical centers $50 million each year, is still being finalized. It will update ambulatory surgical center requirements so that they meet Medicare and Medicaid health and safety standards.
Click here to view the proposed rules.
Click here to submit a comment on the proposed rules.
Written by Christian Nordqvist