Like many big organizations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sometimes get a bad rap for having too many outdated or unnecessary regulations. Thankfully, the government is at least aware of these issues and is working toward reducing them. While it has been the better part of a year since the president signed an executive order calling for a reduction in burdensome regulation, CMS has just recently put this plan into action with a outline of proposed changes for the near future. These updates will potentially affect a wide array of specialties and facilities, so it is important to review what changes will take place.

In addition to complying with the presidential order, CMS’ regulation reduction aims to maintain “a continued effort to balance patient safety and quality of care while limiting unnecessary procedural burdens on providers.” While many of these changes are specific to certain facilities such as critical access hospitals (CAHs) or ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), several others will apply more broadly to healthcare as a whole. For example, one proposed change calls for facilities to be able to conduct emergency preparedness training more often than once a year if they see fit.

A complete list of all the proposed changes can be found on the official CMS website here.

Keep in mind, however, that these regulation adjustments are all still up in the air. If you or your coworkers would like to submit comments arguing for or against the changes, you have until Monday, November 19th to contact CMS. Complete information on how to submit a comment can be found here. Though it may seem like a small contribution, CMS does sift through all the comments and will take them into consideration when making a final decision. If you want your voice to be heard, the time is now.