The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it was relaxing some safety standards for hospitals so they could expand services to fight the coronavirus, according to an article on The New York Times website.
The CMS is changing rules on what counts as a hospital bed; how closely certain medical professionals need to be supervised; and what kinds of health care can be delivered at home. These changes will last the length of the national emergency.
It would also allow hospitals to put beds into school gymnasiums, hotels, outpatient surgical centers, or in temporary structures in their parking lots.
Currently, hospital emergency rooms must see and stabilize any patient who enters their doors. The new rules would allow hospitals to set up triage centers that would direct patients to different facilities, according to their needs.
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