The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid issued a final rule with new emergency preparedness standards on September 16, 2016 for these facility types:
1. Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)
2. Clinics, Rehabilitation Agencies, and Public Health Agencies as Providers of Outpatient Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology Services (Organizations)
3. Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs)
4. Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (CORFs)
5. Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
6. End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)
7. Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
8. Hospices
9. Hospitals
10. Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID)
11. Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities
12. Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs)
13. Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
14. Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs)
15. Religious Nonmedical Health Care Institutions (RNHCIs)
16. Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
17. Transplant Centers
The rule became effective on November 15, 2016 and providers must be compliant by November 15, 2017.
The Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division has prepared a webpage with information to help you navigate the changes for each provider type.
- To view the new CMS emergency preparedness regulations for your facility type, go to https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/summaries-conditions-participation-cop-emergency-preparedness or copy and paste the URL into your address bar.
- To view the final rule as it appears in the Federal Register, go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/09/16/2016-21404/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-emergency-preparedness-requirements-for-medicare-and-medicaid, or copy and paste the URL into your address bar:
- To view a list of health care coalitions in Colorado, go here https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/colorado-health-care-coalition-council or copy and paste URL into your address bar.
- To view a list of emergency preparedness resources provided by CMS, go to https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/emergency-preparedness-rule-provider-resources or copy and paste the URL into your address bar.
CMS plans to issue Interpretive Guidelines for this rule in the Spring 2017 to help facilities implement the regulations and provide information regarding best practices. They also have a web page on emergency preparedness, which can be found at https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertEmergPrep/index.html or copy and paste the URL into your address bar.
If you have any questions, please contact Melanie.Roth-Lawson@state.co.us or call 303-692-2819.
This blog publishes information typically sent to users of the Colorado Health Facilities Interactive (COHFI) system for health care entities regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Please note that COHFI is the official medium for business communication between the Department and licensed and/or Medicare/Medicaid certified health care entities. Health care entities should continue to monitor their email accounts routinely.
