Reminder: Changes to emergency preparedness requirements are in effect
Effective Jan 7, 2020
Published Jan 6, 2020
Last Reviewed Jan 7, 2020
Changes to emergency preparedness requirements are now in effect, and several of those changes apply to both home health and hospice.
A final rule designed to reduce burden took effect Nov. 29, 2019, and includes the following changes to emergency preparedness requirements:
- Removed a requirement to document efforts to contact local, tribal, regional, state and federal emergency preparedness officials as well as the requirement to document participation in collaborative and cooperative planning efforts.
- Changed the requirement to review emergency programs from annually to every two years.
- Changed the training requirement from annually to every two years after conducting initial training for the emergency program. Additional training is also required when the emergency plan is significantly updated.
- Updated the emergency preparedness testing requirements.