CMS Sets Path for Resuming Elective Surgeries as COVID-19 Eases
Agency also will require nursing homes to report COVID-19 cases to CDC, patients, and families
Medpage Today, April 20, 2020 — Healthcare facilities should be able to begin performing elective procedures again if they follow certain protocols, according to guidelines released Sunday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Although many hospitals and health systems have quickly set up telehealth services to address non-urgent medical issues, “the reality is that not everything can be addressed by telehealth,” CMS administrator Seema Verma said at a briefing held by the White House’s coronavirus task force, citing breast cancer surgery and cataract surgery as two examples of elective procedures that can’t be put off for too long.