As you begin to think about remerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, these are four key considerations that you need to think about. Developing a plan with a task force or work group will be imperative.

REEMERGENCE TASKFORCE

As you put together your work group or task force – here is a list of potential key stakeholders. You may end up with separate work groups for each area in your cardiovascular service line - ambulatory clinic, imaging, procedures, etc. Separate work groups will depend on size and geographic proximity of your program. Either way, this step will be one of the most important ones that you take. This group needs to meet often with action. Data and decisions will be the name of the game. In addition, communication and transparency with the teams from this group will be crucial.

CARE TEAM FUNCTIONS

On April 30, 2020, CMS released another waiver that includes some important changes that will impact your care team utilization.

Overarching considerations:

DIRECT PHYSICIAN SUPERVISION REQUIREMENTS

Direct physician requirements are now allowed to be fulfilled virtually through real-time audio and visual technology. This may be a good option for an outreach device clinic.

HOME HEALTH SERVICES

Home Health Services can now be managed by an APP.

HOSPITAL ADMITTING REQUIREMENTS

APPs can now admit patients to an acute care facility and provide care.

PHARMACISTS

Pharmacists can now provide patient support and education as part of an incident to setting. This may be a good opportunity for medication titrations in your disease management clinics.

Incident to Services:

TEACHING SERVICES

Attending teaching support for care review can now be done virtually; and for students, the documentation no longer needs to be redone.

Review requirement changes:

STATE TO STATE SERVICE PROVISION

Managing patients virtually across state lines is now an option as well. There are several requirements, so be sure to review in detail.