CMS Releases Guide to Reopening of Health Care Facilities

June 11, 2020
COVID-19, Skilled Nursing Care, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Practitioners

On June 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a guide for patients and beneficiaries as they consider their in-person care options. During the height of the pandemic, many health care systems and patients postponed non-emergency, in-person care in order to keep patients and providers safe and to ensure capacity to care for COVID-19 patients. As states and regions across the United States see a decline in cases of COVID-19, CMS is providing these recommendations to ensure that non-emergency health care resumes safely and that patients are receiving needed in-person treatment that may have been postponed due to the public health emergency.

On April 19, CMS issued Phase 1 recommendations to safely resume in-person care in areas with low incidence or relatively low and stable incidence of COVID-19 cases. CMS is also providing more information as health care systems, providers, and facilities further expand in-person care delivery. Recommendations cover a range of topics to ensure patient and clinician safety, including facility considerations, testing and sanitation protocols, personal protective equipment and supplies, and workforce availability. As with Phase 1 recommendations, decisions to reopen should be consistent with federal, state, and local orders; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance; and in collaboration with state and local public health authorities.

As the country continues to reopen, patients have questions about when to resume in-person visits with their clinicians. To aid patients in making a decision that is right for them, CMS issued recommendations to help guide patients as they consider seeking in-person, non-emergency treatment. Ultimately, patients should rely on their providers’ suggested course of treatment.

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