COVID-19 Dear Clinician Letter and Updated Elective Surgery Recommendations
April 15, 2020
This information was originally released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 7, 2020, and the hyperlinks to the referenced letter and recommendations direct readers to documents on the CMS website.
Dear Clinician Letter
CMS posted a letter to clinicians that outlines a summary of actions CMS has taken to ensure clinicians have maximum flexibility to reduce unnecessary barriers to providing patient care during the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19. The summary includes information about telehealth and virtual visits, accelerated and advanced payments, and recent waiver information.
Letter: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid-dear-clinician-letter.pdf
Non-Emergent, Elective Medical Services and Treatment Recommendations
CMS recently updated recommendations to postpone non-essential surgeries and other procedures to conserve critical healthcare resources and limit exposure of patients and staff to COVID-19. Developed in collaboration with medical societies and associations, the recommendations outline a tiered approach for state and local officials, clinicians, and delivery systems to consider to prioritize services and care to those who require emergent or urgent attention to save a life, manage severe disease, or avoid further harms from an underlying condition.