CMS rolls back rules flagged as unduly burdensome

The CMS is tweaking, overhauling and outright striking regulations identified as unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome on hospitals and other healthcare providers.

A final rule issued Wednesday (PDF), the CMS said, will save affected organizations about $660 million a year and $3.2 billion over five years.

This regulation on deregulation is a result of an executive order that President Barack Obama issued in 2012 asking federal agencies to eliminate outdated red tape.

The CMS outlined many of its targeted regulations in a proposed rule in February 2013 and received more than 400 comments.

Most praised the agency's decision to end a requirement that a physician make a trip to a rural health clinics or federally qualified health centers at least once every two weeks. The new rule, the CMS said, recognizes that telemedicine now allows providers to maintain high-quality care in remote areas.

Other changes include:

• Allowing registered dieticians and qualified nutritionists to order patient diets without pre-approval from physicians.
• Giving ambulatory surgical centers more flexibility to meet supervision requirements for radiological services that are integral to their procedures.
• Permitting nuclear medicine technicians in hospitals to prepare radiopharmaceuticals without the constant presence of a supervising physician or pharmacist.
• Eliminating a redundant data submission requirement and survey process for transplant centers.

Follow Virgil Dickson on Twitter: @MHvdickson