Articles and Blogs

On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released 279 pages of interim final regulations to add a new provision at 42 CFR 483.80(g)(1), to require facilities to electronically report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) information about COVID-19 in a standardized format specified by CMS. What... READ MORE

On April 13, 2020, OSHA issued instructions and guidance to Area Offices for handling COVID-19-related complaints, referrals and severe illness reports (“Plan”). The Plan’s objective is to ensure safe conditions for workers while also taking measures to protect its own personnel. The Plan sets forth interim procedures that allow flexibility and discretion for its... READ MORE

On April 10, 2020, FEMA published a temporary final rule giving the Agency the authority to block the export of critical PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, including masks, respirators (and their filters and cartridges), non-sterile gloves and surgical gloves. The rule is effective until August 8, 2020. Prioritization and Allocation of Certain Scarce or Threatened... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) recently issued new recommendations to state and local governments and skilled nursing facilities (“facility”) to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Two states also recently announced they will pay facilities a premium to identify as COVID-only facilities.... READ MORE

On April 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a report summarizing OIG’s interviews with hospital administrators across the country on COVID-19. The interviews, which Hall Render summarized in a previous alert, were conducted between March 23 through March 27 and focused on three... READ MORE

Tuesday, March 31 Recap Note – ​We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time, but it is subject to change ​as circumstances warrant. Also, all finalized resources can be found ​on the COVID-19 ​Resource ​Center page ​of Hall Render’s website.​ HHS, FEMA Create Supply Chain Task Force HHS and the Federal Emergency... READ MORE

The lack of medical supplies and equipment necessary to treat patients and to protect individuals and health care workers from becoming infected with and spreading COVID-19 has been a constant refrain during this pandemic. The overall supply of these essential items, ranging from ventilators to personal protective equipment (“PPE”) to prevent the spread of... READ MORE

On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (“USP”) Compounding Expert Committee published resources in response to reported shortages of gowns and personal protective equipment (“PPE”) as well as shortages of alcohol-based hand sanitizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the expectation is that compounders continue to follow applicable USP standards, we anticipate... READ MORE