On September 26, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issues a final rule on The Omnibus Burden Reduction (Conditions of Participation) Final Rule. The intent of the rule is to strengthen patient safety by removing unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome health regulations on hospitals and other healthcare providers. The rule seeks to advance CMS’s Patients over Paperwork initiative by saving providers an estimated 4.4 million hours previously spent on paperwork annually, with overall total provider savings projected to be approximately $8 billion over the next 10 years, giving doctors more time to spend with their patients. CMS conducted a comprehensive review of regulations to determine where changes to obsolete, duplicative, or unnecessary requirements could be made to improve healthcare delivery.
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