CMS relaxes rules to help hospitals combat pandemic

The CMS announced a host of regulatory changes and flexibilities aimed at helping hospitals combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes include allowing the use of non-hospital buildings and spaces for patient care or as quarantine sites, permitting hospitals to test for the novel coronavirus at home or in other settings outside the hospital, allowing health care professionals to enroll in the Medicare program temporarily, and permitting those in Medicare to bill for over 80 telehealth services at the same rate as in-person visits.