Amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals and physician practices have been forced to lay off non-clinical staff. According to a survey conducted by MGMA, 48% of physician practices had furloughed staff and 22% had laid off some staff. The list of hospitals reporting furloughs/layoffs has grown to over 100, reports Becker's Healthcare.  

CMS announced it is waiving requirements to allow for physicians whose privileges will expire to continue practicing at the hospital and for new physicians to be able to practice before full medical staff/governing body review and approval. This latest waiver is another step CMS is taking to increase the physician workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As telehealth is granted unprecedented freedoms during the COVID-19 crisis, physicians are not only eligible to add additional services to their list, but they can now provide direct supervision electronically as well.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRC team has seen a rise in the need for credentialing and privileging resources, and we've particularly noticed the increased use of telemedicine services, both to screen patients for COVID-19 but also to allow patients to schedule appointments with practitioners without leaving their homes. The CRC team realizes that these are trying times, and we want to know how we can best support you through them. Share your top telemedicine and COVID-19 concerns with Associate Editor Karla Accorto at kaccorto@hcpro.com so we can work to provide the content you need. 

One of the recent 1135 waivers issued by CMS due to the COVID-19 pandemic allows for hospitals to screen patients at a location offsite from the hospital’s campus to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The development of EMTALA compliance checklists and audit tools are important first steps for hospitals to initiate self-monitoring for compliance. Ongoing education and training is also essential. This EMTALA fact sheet is distributed by the HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, New York with initial medical staff application packets. It can also be combined with a post-test at the time of reappointment to ensure practitioners continue to be mindful of the requirements under EMTALA.

Vascular neurology is the medical subspecialty of neurology that involves the evaluation and treatment of vascular events affecting the brain or spinal cord, including ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, spinal cord ischemia, and spinal cord hemorrhage.

The role of a physician assistant (PA) has historically been one of a “dependent practitioner” requiring close physician supervision, which included co-signatures, chart review requirements, co-locating physicians on-site where PAs deliver care, and limiting a PA’s scope of practice. The trend in state regulatory laws, however, has been moving toward more remote supervision of PAs and fewer oversight requirements of PA clinical practice.