CMS Final Rule Reduces ASC Administrative Burdens
Get updated on some regulatory changes for ASCs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Final Rule to reduce unnecessary burden for healthcare providers, including Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs). CMS plans to balance patient safety and quality, while also providing broad regulatory relief for providers. In the case of ASCs, the Omnibus Burden Reduction (Conditions of Participation) Final Rule removes the provisions requiring ASCs to have a written transfer agreement with a hospital that meets certain Medicare requirements. The Final Rule also removes the requirement that all physicians performing surgery in the ASC have admitting privileges in a hospital that meets certain Medicare requirements. Now, ASCs will only be required to periodically provide the local hospital with written notice outlining the ASC’s operations and patient population served by them. ASCs will have to continue with plans to effectively transfer patients who need emergency medical care from the ASC to a hospital. CMS also eliminated the requirement that physicians complete a comprehensive medical history and physical (H&P) assessment within 30 days of a scheduled surgery, instead requiring ASCs to establish their own policy regarding when such assessment would be appropriate.
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