QUESTION:        A few years ago, CMS proposed a rule that would have required hospitals to send a copy of the discharge instructions and the discharge summary to practitioners responsible for the patient’s follow-up care.  Specifically, the proposed rule attached a 48-hour deadline to this requirement, with an exception for pending test results (which would have been due within 24 hours after becoming available).  Was the 48-hour deadline ever finalized?

ANSWER:          No, CMS ultimately decided not to impose this 48-hour deadline.  At the end of September, the agency published a final rule explaining its rationale.  CMS received numerous comments that supported the idea of requiring hospitals to send a copy of the discharge instructions and discharge summary to the practitioners responsible for the follow-up care, so long as those practitioners were known and had been clearly identified.  However, most of the commentators expressed concern about the idea of a 48-hour time frame.  In the Federal Register, CMS explained that it found these concerns convincing.  Specifically, it acknowledged that the 48-hour deadline would not be reasonable or appropriate for all situations.  It therefore eliminated that specific time frame requirement and instead gave hospitals discretion on when to send this information.

However, CMS did finalize a requirement for hospitals to “discharge the patient, and transfer or refer the patient where applicable, along with all necessary medical information pertaining to the patient’s current course of illness and treatment, post-discharge goals of care, and treatment preferences.”  This does place certain obligations on the hospital (and discharging practitioners) to ensure that necessary medical information is ready to be sent at the time of discharge.

To hear more on this topic and other recent CMS changes, tune in to our upcoming audio conference:

“Patients Over Paperwork”? The New CMS Rules and Their Impact on Your Patients and Policies

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