On Nov. 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule, “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Cutting Administrative Requirements for Excellence in Patient Care,” to revise the Conditions of Participation (CoP) in an effort to reduce administrative requirements. The CoP are federal health and safety standards that hospitals must meet to qualify for federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid. The agency estimates the changes to the CoP would save $320 million, returning more than 3.26 million hours of staff time to providers.
The CMS proposed to remove some requirements in the obstetric (OB) CoP that were finalized in the calendar year 2025 Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule [refer to Washington Highlights, Sept. 13, 2024]. These requirements, which were originally aimed at improving maternal health outcomes, included new transfer protocols and emergency services readiness requirements, as well as additional staff training for OB care.
In the proposed rule, the agency requests information on a number of areas, including minimizing burden for hospitals to comply with ongoing respiratory illness and public health emergency infectious illness data reporting requirements and revising criteria for transplant program initial certification. Comments are due Jan. 4, 2027.
- Washington Highlights