CMS Relieves Hospice Nurses of Aide In-service Training Tasks
IMPORTANT: Please be sure to check with your state and accreditation bodies to be sure they are in agreeance with the waivers.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today temporarily suspended a number of rules so that hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities can boost their frontline medical staffs as they fight to save lives during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
As a result of CMS actions, hospice nurses will be relieved of hospice aide in-service training tasks so they can spend more time with patients.
“It’s all hands on deck during this crisis,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “All frontline medical professionals need to be able to work at the highest level they were trained for. CMS is making sure there are no regulatory obstacles to increasing the medical workforce to handle the patient surge during the COVID pandemic.”
Since March 30, CMS has issued an array of temporary regulatory waivers and new rules to assist healthcare agencies during the COVID-19 crisis:
For a complete list of workforce flexibilities that CMS has permitted in recent weeks and years, go to: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/summary-covid-19-emergency-declaration-waivers.pdf
For a fact sheet detailing additional information on the waivers announced today and previously, go to: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/summary-covid-19-emergency-declaration-waivers.pdf