CMS exempted ASCs in Hurricane Harvey's path from quality reporting requirements without having to submit extraordinary circumstance exemption requests, according to ASCA.
Here are four things to know:
1. ASCs located in select Texas counties and Louisiana parishes affected by Hurricane Harvey won't need to submit quality data for the calendar year 2017 or the 2017/18 influenza season, which are related to payment adjustments in 2019. The exemption applies to all data submitted to the QualityNet Secure Portal and National Healthcare Safety Network.
2. The exemption doesn't apply to claims-based measures outside of the Quality Data Codes for calculation purposes.
3. ASCs outside of the select counties and parishes covered by the exemption may still request an exemption on quality reporting requirements using the extraordinary circumstances exemption procedure. CMS may add counties or parishes to the list if FEMA expands its current Hurricane Harvey disaster declaration.
4. CMS could adjust exempted reporting periods and submission deadlines as well based on the evolving recovery situation.