Preparing for the unexpected. A new CMS web portal on 1135 waivers. Safely treating ER psychiatric patients.

CMS creates easier way to ask about waivers during the current public health emergency, which has now been extended to April 21.

Patients with psychiatric illness can spend lengthy periods of time in emergency departments waiting for psychiatric evaluation or transfer to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Earlier research found that the mean length of stay (LOS) for psychiatric patients in emergency departments awaiting an inpatient bed was 16.5 hours and LOS for psychiatric patients in EDs awaiting transfer to another facility was 21.5 hours. Other research has found that busy and crowded EDs are not well-suited to boarding psychiatric patients for lengthy p

Across the country, health systems and hospitals have established incident command centers to manage the challenges of the pandemic. At Northwell Health last spring, incident command leadership was a key element in the health system’s response to the hottest hot spot in the first coronavirus patient surge.

When 9/11 took place, NYC healthcare facilities were thrown into chaos trying to establish communication and coordination during the biggest terrorist attack in U.S. history. Many thought their clinics and hospitals were prepared for whatever natural disasters are native to their area—until record-breaking storms, fires, or tornados left them isolated, their facility cut off from supplies and aid for days on end.

And while many warned that a global pandemic was possible, there wasn’t a single clinic, hospital, or healthcare organization that wasn’t blindsided by COVID-19. With hindsight, it’s easy to plan and train for an emergency that’s happened before, said Kelly Proctor, CHFM, CHSP, CHOP, director of operations for DNV GL Healthcare, and Brennan Scott, CHFM, CHOP, head of surveyor development at DNV GL, during DNV GL’s 2020 Virtual Conference in October.

Having your documentation organized for survey is always a challenge, but especially so when dealing with HR requirements and personnel files. Remember that as of January 1, 2021, The Joint Commission updated its Human Resources standard HR.01.01.01, EP 1 to include the documentation icon.