Announcements:

• U.S. DEA Issues Guidance on New Flexibility for Managing Patients with Opioid Use Disorder

• News Alert: Fake Online Coronavirus Information

• U.S. Dept. of Labor Announces New Guidance on Unemployment Insurance Flexibilities During COVID-19 Outbreak

• State Emergency Response Information
  

TELEHEALTH

Visit our NCMS Telehealth resource page for information on insurance, HIPAA, telemedicine vendor options, news, and other helpful articles.

Testing & Medical Supplies:

The NCMS is coordinating a supply chain for members to obtain Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies including KN95 face masks, disposable medical gowns and latex rubber gloves, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, face shields, and more. For details, click here.

Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/infection-control/control-recommendations.html

Latest optimization strategies for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the CDC.

• Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of Facemasks

• Recommended Guidance for Extended Use and Limited Reuse of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators in Healthcare Settings

• Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings

• Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of Eye Protection

• Who Needs PPE? Health Care Supply of PPE

Supply Resources

• ​LabCorp Testing Information

• Quest Diagnostics COVID-19 Information

• Quest Diagnostics: Testing Information for Patients

• McKesson Medical Supplies

• Henry Schein Medical Supplies
  

Centers for disease control & prevention:

For the latest from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, click here.

• Click here to watch the CDC’s Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity call from March 5 regarding What Clinicians Need to Know to Prepare for COVID-19 in the United States.

• Updated Guidance on Evaluating and Testing Persons for COVID-19

• The CDC has developed interim CMS IDC-10-CM billing coding guidance for COVID-19. The guidance went into effect on February 20, 2020. Click here for details.

• Legal Authorities for Isolation & Quarantine

• Specific Laws & Regulations Governing the Control of Communicable Diseases

• Steps Healthcare Facilities Can Take to Prepare

• Poster: Stop the Spread of Germs

Florida Department Of Health:

For the latest from the Florida Department of Health, click here.

• Toolkit with Posters/Flyers for Your Practice

• HIPAA Letter for Licensed Health Care Providers

• COVID-19: What Travelers Need to Know

• COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (Mar. 4)

• Diagnostic Specimen Collection, Packaging and Shipping Guidance for Laboratories and County Health Departments (Mar. 2)

• Enhanced Surveillance and Preparedness for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Feb. 28)

• Clinician Screening Tool for Identifying Persons Under Investigation for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Feb. 28)

Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services:

For the latest from the CMS, click here.

• CMS Recommendations for Re-opening Facilities to Provide Non-emergent Non COVID-19 Healthcare: Phase 1

• CMS Issues Recommendations on Non-Emergent, Elective Medical Services and Treatment

• CMS Posts Letter to Clinicians to Summarize Actions CMS Has Taken to Ensure Clinicians Have Maximum Flexibility to Reduce Unnecessary Barriers to Providing Patient Care 

• Physicians and Other Clinicians: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19

• Sweeping Regulatory Changes to Help U.S. Healthcare System Address COVID-19 Patient Surge

• COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Health Care Providers Fact Sheet

• Guidance on Adult Elective Surgery and Procedures

• President Trump Expands Telehealth Benefits for Medicare Beneficiaries During COVID-19 Outbreak

• Coverage and Payment Related to COVID-19 Medicare

• Coverage and Benefits Related to COVID-19 Medicaid and CHIP

• Information Related to COVID-19 Individual and Small Group Market Insurance Coverage

Latest News:

• CMS Announces Relief for Clinicians, Providers, Hospitals and Facilities Participating in Quality Reporting Programs in Response to COVID-19 (Mar. 22)

• Trump Administration Releases COVID-19 Checklists and Tools to Accelerate Relief for State Medicaid & CHIP Programs (Mar. 22)

• CMS Releases Recommendations on Adult Elective Surgeries, Non-Essential Medical, Surgical, and Dental Procedures During COVID-19 Response (Mar. 18, 2020)

• President Trump Expands Telehealth Benefits for Medicare Beneficiaries During COVID-19 Outbreak (Mar. 17)

• CMS Issues Clear, Actionable Guidance to Providers about COVID-19 Virus (Mar. 9)

• COVID-19: CMS Issues Frequently Asked Questions to Assist Medicare Providers (Mar. 6)

• CMS Issues Call to Action for Hospital Emergency Departments to Screen Patients for Coronavirus (Mar. 9)

American Medical Association (AMA) Updates:

For the latest from the AMA, click here.

• AMA Urges Governors to Adopt Emergency Response Protections for Physicians

• COVID-19: Recommendations for Pursuing Liability Protections Through State Action

• AMA Summaries of ONC and CMS Final Rules on Information Blocking, Interoperability, and Patient Access

• AMA Releases Special Coding Advice Related to COVID-19

• AMA Applauds Medicare Telemedicine Policy Change During Pandemic

business assistance:

• Small Business Administration (SBA) opens COVID-19 Economic Injury Loans

• Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program

Emergency Lending Resources

• Ameris Bank: Apply online at www.floridadisasterloan.org. Applicant (or applicants, if a group loan) must be at least 51% owner of the business. Documents required for each applicant by upload during application: a copy of their driver’s license, front and back; two years of both personal and business tax returns, proof of wages paid to at least two employees, either W2 or 1099 employees. No paper documents are being accepted.

• SunTrust, now Trust: Contact Brandon Hogue (Brandon.Hogue@SunTrust.com). Can work with Medical Specialty Commercial Banking. Existing customers of SunTrust/Truist will take priority.

FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT:

Required Workforce Poster

 The Department of Labor ("DOL") released a Workplace Poster for employers regarding COVID-19 and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA" or "the Act"). Pursuant to the FFCRA, employers must post a notice to current employees informing them of their rights under the Act. All covered employers are required to post a notice of the FFCRA requirements in a conspicuous place on its premises where it is visible to all current employees. If employees are teleworking, an employer may satisfy this requirement by emailing or direct mailing this notice to all of its current employees or posting this notice on an employee information internal or external website. Employers are not required to post this notice in multiple languages.

The poster can be found online at: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/posters/FFCRA_Poster_WH1422_Non-Federal.pdf

COVID-19 Related Tax Credits for Required Paid Leave Provided by Small & Midsize Businesses

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA"), signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020 provides small and midsize employers refundable tax credits that reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave wages to their employees for leave related to COVID-19. Learn more by clicking here. 

Emergency Fund Disbursements

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the immediate disbursement of the first $30 billion out of the $100 billion that Congress allocated to hospitals, physicians and other health care providers in the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Learn more by clicking here. 

DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION 

In an effort to facilitate continuous patient care during quickly changing scenarios that are arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, DEA has issued two exceptions to regulations for DEA-registered hospital/clinics:

1.  Utilize alternate satellite hospital/clinic locations under their current DEA registrations (no need to apply for a separate DEA registration for the alternate site). 

2.  Distributors can ship controlled substances directly to these alternate satellite hospital/clinic locations, even though these locations do not have their own DEA registrations (non-registered).

These two exceptions are in effect from April 10, 2020, until the public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) ends, unless DEA specifies an earlier date.  

The first attached letter sets forth the above exceptions and lists conditions that must be met in order to receive controlled substances at a non-registered alternate satellite hospital/clinic. The first set of conditions pertains to what the DEA registered hospital/clinic needs to do to implement a non-registered alternate satellite hospital/clinic, along with recordkeeping procedures. The second set of conditions pertains to the delivery and receipt of the controlled substances at the non-registered alternate satellite hospital/clinic. As outlined in the letter, DEA registered hospital/clinics, as well as distributors of controlled substances, will need to coordinate with their local DEA offices.  

The second attached letter is more for your information, and provides an exception for signing an invoice at the time of receipt of controlled substances at an Opioid Treatment Center (OTP).