Coronavirus Resources (April 24 – 30, 2020)

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCES

(April 24 – 30, 2020)

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance and Resources
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Government agencies continue their efforts to provide COVID-19 guidance and resources to health care providers:

• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) continued to host multiple COVID-19 related calls and podcasts. Recently posted items and topics of discussion include calls regarding front-line nursing, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well as the recurring “CMS Call from the Front Lines” and CMS “Office Hours.”  Transcripts and audio of these events can be found here.

• CMS, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), and the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology have released statements announcing that they will exercise enforcement discretion regarding new requirements under the March 9, 2020 interoperability final rules. These enforcement discretions are meant to provide compliance flexibility to the nation’s health care providers responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

• The OIG updated its Work Plan. The OIG Work Plan summarizes new, ongoing, and revised areas of review that the OIG plans to pursue.  This latest update includes an examination of the Food and Drug Administration’s role in facilitating diagnostic and serological testing for COVID-19 and an audit of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s operation of the Strategic National Stockpile in response to COVID-19.