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AHA: Hospitals need time to comply with the NOTICE Act

Case Management Insider, January 19, 2016

The American Hospital Association is pushing for a six-month implementation period after the final rule for the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act is issued.

The NOTICE Act, which President Barack Obama signed August 6, 2015, requires the hospital to clearly tell—both verbally and in writing—any patient in observation who has been in the hospital for more than 24 hours of his or her outpatient status. Hospital officials have to deliver this notification no more than 36 hours after the patient’s outpatient treatments begin.

The goal of the legislation is to ensure patients are aware of their status and what it might mean for them financially—in particular, how it might affect their post-acute care options. In comments submitted to CMS, the AHA also encouraged CMS to describe how it will carry out enforcement. 

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