Revised CMS Rules to Decrease Healthcare Costs

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new rules on May 10 to reduce redundant and outdated regulations on American hospitals and healthcare providers in order to decrease costs and allow for more emphasis on medical care. The revised Medicare Conditions of Participation for hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) will result in an annual cost savings of $940 million. The revised Medicare Reform will eliminate overlapping and outdated regulatory requirements for healthcare providers and save $200 million in the first year. All totaled, the new rules will save the healthcare system approximately $1.1 billion in the first year and more than $5 billion over the next five years. In addition to the cost savings, the new rules will let CAHs partner with other providers to ensure that efficient and safe delivery of care is arranged for their patients; eliminate outdated regulations, including obsolete infection control guidelines for ambulatory surgical centers, invalid Medicaid qualification standards for physical and occupational therapists, and unnecessary requirements for governing bodies of organ procurement organizations; increase flexibility for hospitals by permitting one governing body to superintend multiple hospitals in a single health system; and require that all qualified candidates be reviewed for possible appointment to the hospital medical staff where they will be given all rights, responsibilities and privileges of a selected staff member.