What is the primary force that will act on healthcare in 2023? What topics, trends and opportunities are hot this year? And how does the public feel about healthcare provider organizations today?
CMS is soliciting feedback on the creation of the first national directory of healthcare providers and services (NDH), which would contain information on healthcare providers and services across the country. CMS states that the NDH would improve and support interoperability throughout the healthcare sector for payers and providers while making it easier for patients to identify, compare and locate providers who meet their specific needs and preferences, such as those related to office accessibility, languages spoken or other data. CMS proposes that consolidating provider data into a single source would ultimately reduce the unnecessary burden placed on providers to maintain dozens of separate directories while improving access to care. The new system would be used in place of commercial payor directories and allow payers to update their own directories seamlessly from a single directory. CMS is proposing integrating the NDH with current CMS-maintained systems (i.e., NPPES, PECOS and Care Compare).
In the aftermath of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, legal experts say health systems and providers must immediately review their operations and prepare for potential enforcement by state prosecutors. According to this article published in Fierce Healthcare, McDermott Partner Stacey Callaghan said organizations should consult with counsel “as soon as possible” to ensure they understand the new post-Roe landscape.
Telehealth’s state-by-state regulatory patchwork means that healthcare providers must navigate a variety of regulations that govern which types of care can be provided by virtual means, and even what modalities can be used in different care settings. McDermott’s recent 50-state survey explores the standard and requirements that physicians and nurse practitioners must follow when prescribing non-controlled substances or ordering tests via a telemedicine encounter. Key issues addressed in the survey include:
In what states are asynchronous solutions permitted?
What are state rules governing prescriptions when a physician-patient relationship does not exist prior to the telehealth encounter?
What are state rules on prescribing via audio-visual encounters or audio-only encounters?
Under what state regulations can a questionnaire be sufficient to create a physician-patient or advance practice registered nurse-patient relationship?
Healthcare employers are immediately impacted by two recent developments in federal and California COVID-19 paid leave laws: a Department of Labor revision to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and a new California supplemental paid sick leave legislation. For both changes in the law, quick action is required for compliance.