The American Hospital Association recently released a detailed summary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS’s) proposed rule that would reform Medicare regulations that the agency identified as unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome on health care providers and suppliers. Comments on the rule are due Nov. 19.

Of particular interest to health facility professionals, CMS proposes to change the facility emergency preparedness program review requirement from annually to at least every two years. The agency also proposes to eliminate the requirement that facilities document their efforts to contact local, tribal, state and federal emergency preparedness officials as well as their participation in collaborative and cooperative planning efforts.

The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) also recommends that, where appropriate, its members provide additional comments on unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome regulations that CMS did not include in its proposed rule.

ASHE members can download the Regulatory Advisory to see the key takeaways and an in-depth summary.