We wanted to take a quick moment to remind you that tomorrow, Saturday, May 7th marks the end of seven specific COVID-19 emergency declaration blanket waivers. As reported last month, CMS’ memo, QSO-22-15-NH & NLTC & LSC, lines out two sets of waivers that CMS is rolling back on May 7th, 2022 and June 6th, 2022. The first set of 1135 waivers put in place in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency that are due to expire tomorrow affect Skilled Nursing Facilities/Nursing Facilities (SNFs/NFs), Inpatient Hospices, Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IIDs) and End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Facilities. Physician Services

• Physician Delegation of Tasks in SNFs – 42 CFR §483.30(e)(4) – CMS had waived the requirement preventing a physician from delegating a task to a physician assistant, nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist when regulations specify that the physician must perform it personally.
• Physician Visits – 42 CFR §483.30(c)(3) – CMS had waived the requirement for all required physician visits (not already exempted in §483.30(c)(4) and (f)) to be made by the physician personally.
• Physician Visits in Skilled Nursing Facilities/Nursing Facilities – 42 CFR §483.30 – CMS had waived the requirement for physicians and non-physician practitioners to perform in-person visits for nursing home residents and allow visits to be conducted, as appropriate, via telehealth.

Other Waivers

• Resident Groups – 42 CFR §483.10(f)(5) – CMS had waived the requirements ensuring residents can participate in-person in resident groups.
• Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) – 42 CFR §483.75(b)–(d) & (e)(3) – CMS had modified certain requirements that facilities develop, implement, evaluate and maintain an effective, comprehensive, data-driven QAPI program.
• Clinical Records – 42 CFR §483.10(g)(2)(ii) – CMS had modified the requirement for LTC facilities to provide a resident a copy of his/her records within two working days when requested by the resident.
• Detailed Information Sharing for Discharge Planning for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities – 42 CFR §483.21(c)(1)(viii) – CMS had waived the discharge planning requirement for LTC facilities to assist residents and their representatives in selecting a post-acute care provider using data, such as standardized patient assessment data, quality measures and resource use. CMS had maintained all other discharge planning requirements.

As spelled out in the CMS Memo, nine additional waivers will expire on June 6th. We will provide that reminder as the time gets closer. Thank you for all of your tireless efforts during the last few years. We are honored to partner with you.