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CMS revisions reflect infectious disease danger and emergency standby power systems

Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, May 1, 2019

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As if healthcare facilities didn’t have enough to worry about with the always-changing emergency preparation standards—now CMS is changing the standards again. The revisions come as part of the agency’s updates to Appendix Z of the State Operations Manual, as detailed in its Quality, Safety and Oversight memo QSO19-06-ALL.

New requirements proposed in 2013 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were adopted by CMS, and hospitals were required to be in compliance by November 2017. The changes to the emergency preparedness requirements were designed to help prevent the disruption of hospital services on a mass scale such as that experienced during disasters like Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Hurricane Sandy in New York City.

The passed rule required, among other things, that hospitals track displaced patients, provide care at alternate sites, and handle volunteers.

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Healthcare Life Safety Compliance.

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