As hospitals across the country scramble to keep up with an influx of COVID-19 patients, while simultaneously experiencing critical shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), staff, and testing supplies, case managers are being increasingly pulled into the fray.
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, the government has continued to issue regulatory changes in an attempt to ease the strain hospitals are facing. There are several updates relevant to case managers.
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities are either working at a frenetic pace to treat an increasing number of sick patients or frantically preparing themselves for what’s yet to come.
Doug’s wife drives him to the local hospital emergency department (ED) because he has been experiencing possible COVID-19 symptoms for the past week. His symptoms started with a headache, a dry cough, muscle aches, and a low-grade fever of 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will reimburse hospitals at Medicare rates for treating uninsured novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, Alex Azar, secretary of HHS, announced on April 3. The funding will be part of the $100 billion allocated to healthcare providers as part of the CARES Act.