Hospice Emergency Preparedness 

           

   
               

The 2016 Final Rule established national Emergency Preparedness requirements for all Medicare providers for natural and man-made disasters. It stated that hospices must comply with Federal, State and local emergency preparedness requirements.

The most recent CMS update for hospice emergency preparedness requirements was issued on March 26, 2021.

The goals of Hospice Emergency Management Include:

  • Ensure patient and staff safety during and following an emergency/disaster.
  • Anticipate and plan for the needs of patients, staff, and community in an emergency/disaster.
  • Be organized and respond rapidly to meet the challenges of emergencies/disasters.
  • Integration with local public health, county emergency preparedness agencies, and health care coalitions in response activities.
  • Rapidly recover following the disaster.
  • Maintain continuity of patient care.
  • Maintain the agency’s ability to operate.
  • Maximize agency and community resources.

Emergency Preparedness standards are included in all surveys– complaint, initial, and triennial.

The Health Commerce System (HCS) serves as a newsroom for important information that providers need to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters.  

The Health Commerce System posts Dear Administrator Letters (DALs), Department of Health (DOH) Health Advisories and educational opportunities.

The Health Commerce System also collects information (HERDS) utilized to identify health related problems such as emerging infections and to determine provider staffing and equipment needs.

Perhaps most importantly, the Health Commerce System is used for notification of emergency situations through ihans alerts. To receive timely notifications, providers need to keep assigned roles in the Health Commerce System up to date.

These roles include:

  • Administrator
  • Director of Patient Services
  • Clinical Services
  • Emergency Response Coordinator
  • Operator

Each agency must identify an HCS Coordinator. The person identified in this role assignment maintains all provider role assignments in the Health Commerce System.

Log on to the Health Commerce System (state.ny.us)

HPCANYS Emergency Preparedness provider communications and educational offerings are the results of grant dollars received from the New York State Department of Health, Office of Emergency Preparedness (OHEP) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (OEPR).