The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) April 9 temporarily suspended a number of rules so that hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities can boost frontline staffs during the pandemic. These changes affect clinicians nationwide and focus on reducing supervision and certification requirements so practitioners can be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses. The new waivers sharply expand the workforce flexibilities CMS announced on March 30. As a result, physicians can now directly care for patients at rural hospitals, across state lines if necessary, via phone, radio, or online communication. In addition, nurse practitioners may now perform some medical exams on Medicare patients at skilled nursing facilities whether COVID-19 related or not. CMS has produced a fact sheet detailing these and other waivers. (CMS news release, 4/9/20)
