Expected to take effect from the next month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will mandate all hospitals to report their general bed availability and patient counts for respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Akin Demehin, the Senior Director of Quality & Patient Safety at the American Hospital Association, notes that this new regulatory requirement, while well-intentioned, may place unnecessary strain on hospitals. Demehin emphasized that more collaboration with organizations like the CMS and the CDC is needed to help make the sharing of infectious disease data less burdensome while also ensuring it fulfills its intended purpose – helping guide public health efforts.
This new mandate was first announced in the Federal Register, as part of a comprehensive 1,061-page rule involving alterations to policies surrounding Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System for both acute care and long-term care hospitals. For the uninitiated, the rule requires hospitals to electronically report data including confirmed infections of respiratory illnesses among their in-patience, hospital bed census and capacity details for both overall and specific settings, and basic demographic information of patients.
Starting November 1, 2024, this information must be electronically shared with the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network or another system under the purview of Health and Human Services (HHS). The data collected on COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coupled with hospital bed capacity and occupancy rates, will fundamentally shape infection prevention and control measures on all levels of the healthcare system. Failing to uphold this mandatory reporting could result in a dearth of critical information that would otherwise help gauge the national, regional, and local implications of these respiratory illnesses and the capacity of the healthcare system to manage them.
The American Hospital Association, alongside the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH), opposes the new rule. FAH CEO Charles N. ‘Chip’ Kahn III, in a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, urged the CMS to consider alternative methods like voluntary reporting and aiding the development of infrastructure that aids efficient data sharing. The FAH also recommended modifications to CoP, including weekly snapshots of data, specific data requirements, and removing the provision requiring elevated reporting during public health emergencies.
Despite the opposition, the final rule published by CMS indicated strong support from patients and community members. The belief is that this publicly reported data can help drive informed decisions about public and personal healthcare. Harold Miller, CEO and President of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, acknowledged that the new rule, stipulating weekly data reporting, presents less of a burden than previous daily reporting obligations, but it still puts a strain on especially small facilities. He cautioned that the 39-hour annual commitment for a nurse to report may not significantly impact the budget of the hospital, but it does take away from time that could be used for patient care or other vital activities.
Miller, highlighting the issue of unfunded mandates in the Medicare CoPs, stated that these mandates could escalate costs without an equivalent increase in revenues, potentially compelling small, struggling hospitals to close. He asserted that the government should fund the mandates it applies and emphasized that activities addressing public health required direct funding to ensure they can be carried out competently.
Source: https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/medicare/112389