New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo postponed elective surgeries in the state and ordered ASCs, general hospitals, office-based surgery practices and diagnostic centers to make beds available to patients if needed, the National Law Review reports.
What you should know:
1. Despite canceling elective procedures, the Commissioner of Health left it up to these facilities to define the scope of an elective procedure.
2. The order also mandated general hospitals submit plans to increase available beds to the state health department but didn't set a timetable for the facilities to do so.
3. The order also allowed hospices to designate beds as inpatient beds and gave the commissioner power to designate healthcare facilities as trauma centers.
4. Hospitals can now appoint physicians without having to undergo the traditional appointment process, can use qualified volunteers or personnel affiliated with different hospitals to assist with staffing, and can use qualified students as volunteers.
5. Certified registered nurse anesthetists can now administer anesthesia without physician supervision, and physician assistants can provide medical care within the scope of their license without the supervision of qualified physicians.
Read the entire order here.