Add and comment to these two posts with journal article reference

Each post with 200 words

Post One:

1. What is the goal of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule?

The goal of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is to establish baseline consistencies for preparedness, response, and recovery of manmade and natural disasters which allows for better coordination with federal, state, tribal, regional, and local emergency preparedness systems. The rule addresses four core elements: Risk Assessment and Emergency Planning, Communication Plan, Polices and Procedures and Training and Testing.

1. How does it impact you as a healthcare emergency manager?

Prior to this November 2017, there was not a hard fast rule, but recommendations and best practices. A huge impact of this rule is job opportunities. Many facilities have safety officer rolls, but few, even today, have emergency preparedness officers. (And many try to combine the responsibilities of safety and compliance with emergency preparedness.) The shift from best practice to require also increases responsibilities, especially around documentation of plans, procedures, and drills.

1. How does the Emergency Preparedness Rule strengthen community emergency preparedness?

Increased coordination between local, state, tribal, and federal emergency preparedness agencies greatly strengthens community emergency preparedness. By requiring compliance, emergency managers and healthcare facilities are forced to reach out to their local partners in order to create plans, policies, procedures and drills. Additionally, the burden of preparedness, response and recovery is shared amongst the communities thus increasing the strength and durability of the response.

1. What other credentialing/regulatory agencies influence healthcare emergency management? How?

The Joint Commission (TJC), another regulatory agency, also impacts healthcare emergency management. For example, there are 21 specific performance elements related to hospitals including COOP, documentation requirements, and annual training requirements.

Cascardo, D. (2017). Preparing to Meet the New CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule (pp. 301-303, Rep.). New York: Greenbra;nch Publishing LLC.

CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule: What You Need to Know Now. (2018, October 19). Retrieved fromhttps://www.liveprocess.com/blog-cms-emergency-preparedness-regulations-what-you-need-to-know

Joint commission issues updated emergency management requirements for hospital, ambulatory, home health, hospice settings. (2017, ). Targeted News Service.

News briefs. (2018). AORN Journal, 107(1), P5-P6. doi:10.1002/aorn.12027

Post Two :

The goal of the CMS Emergency preparedness rule

This 190-page rule that was issued on September 2016 was meant for Medicare and Medicaid Partaking Providers and Suppliers, and it generally seeks to establish consistent national standards to be followed in emergency preparation and mitigation (Federal Register, 2016). Through this rule, Medicare and Medicaid providers are supposed to adhere to set guidelines in order to ensure the improvement of patient safety at the period when natural, and man-made disasters strike. In order for this to happen, stakeholders including hospitals and other health care organizations are proposed to implement assessment and planning for risks, ensure proper communication plans are in place, guarantee compliance with relevant policies and laws and conduct training and testing (CMS.gov, 2019).

How rule affects me as a healthcare emergency manager

As a healthcare emergency manager, this rule provides me with the tools to be an effective responder to emergency situations by informing me of the right preparation strategies. It also helps to provide a guideline on what standards are expected to be met in emergency response, and this provides a clear picture of what resources and capabilities I should advocate for to aid in preparation for emergencies. I will be expected to document most of the activities conducted during emergency drills and exercises, policies and risk assessments and be part of the development of new training programs.

How the Emergency Preparedness Rule strengthens community emergency preparedness

The framework is an advocate of targeted training exercises aimed at simulation of real emergency situations at the community level and then prioritizing and availing financial and related resources necessary to mitigate the risks presented by such emergencies. It also calls for partnerships between the relevant agencies in ensuring the strengthening of integrated initiatives and action towards emergency preparedness which spreads the cost of such efforts among the different agencies involved as opposed to one (Abdalla & Esmail, 2018).

What other credentialing/regulatory agencies influence healthcare emergency management? How?

Health care emergency management has been the forte of several regulatory and accreditation organizations and one of the major one is the Joint Commission which has established standards for evaluation, assessment, and improvement of performance in this area. This includes the six critical areas of emergency management, including staff responsibilities, communication, resources and assets, utility management, safety and security, patient clinical and support and staff responsibilities which articulate what procedures and policies to prioritize and follow during a disaster (Rose, Murthy, Brooks, & Bryant, 2017). The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is also another major accreditation agency that aims to harmonize the process of emergency preparedness and management through partnerships with policymakers and health care stakeholders through establishing evidence-based programs, standards and measures in compliance auditing and vendor and software certification (Abdalla & Esmail, 2018). Others include the Healthcare Quality Association on Accreditation (HQAA), Accreditation Commission for Healthcare (ACHC) and Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC) among many more. With the CMS Emergency Preparedness rule in force, these agencies will have to incorporate its detailed requirements into their standards, thus improving emergency preparedness and management in health care within the country.

References,

Abdalla, R., & Esmail, M. (2018). WebGIS for Disaster Management and Emergency Response. Basingstoke, England: Springer.

CMS.gov. (2019, February 6). Emergency Preparedness Rule – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertEmergPrep/Emergency-Prep-Rule.html

Federal Register. (2016, September 16). Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers. Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/09/16/2016-21404/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-emergency-preparedness-requirements-for-medicare-and-medicaid

Rose, D. A., Murthy, S., Brooks, J., & Bryant, J. (2017). The Evolution of Public Health Emergency Management as a Field of Practice. American Journal of Public Health, 107(S2), S126-S133. doi:10.2105/ajph.2017.303947