FierceHealthcare reported Sept. 17:

“CMS took the latest step in its Patients over Paperwork initiative on Monday, issuing a proposed rule that would eliminate or update a slew of regulations deemed ‘unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome’ on providers.

“Should  the rule be finalized, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that it would save providers $1.12 billion each year and eliminate millions of hours in administrative time. Through 2021, CMS projects $5.2 billion in total savings and 53 million hours of administrative burden eliminated.”

“Much of the rule focuses on streamlining CMS’s conditions of participation and conditions for coverage, which the agency says will allow providers to operate more fluidly and efficiently without impacting patient safety and care quality. Some of the key changes the rule proposes include:

• “Allowing health systems to use an integrated quality assessment and improvement platform across all their member hospitals.
• “Creating a simpler process for providers to order portable X-ray machines and updating the requirements for portable X-ray technologists.
• “Easing requirements for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers for conducting physicals and collecting patient histories ahead of procedures.”

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