CMS Urged to Withdraw Physician Supervision Policy

Bryn Evans, April 17, 2009
A group of 12 healthcare organizations, including the American Hospital Association, has urged CMS to withdraw or delay the recent policy change regarding physician supervision of hospital outpatient services, according to an April 15 article on the AHA's Web site, AHA News Now. The organizations recommended that CMS suspend enforcement of the policy until the agency can address all related concerns.

The policy, which CMS announced in the 2009 OPPS final rule, requires a physician privileged by the hospital to be present in a department of the hospital, or its outpatient departments furnishing outpatient therapeutic services, both on and off campus.

In its April 15 letter to CMS, the group says the policy "places a considerable burden on hospitals, requiring them to engage more physicians for direct supervisory coverage without a clear clinical need....