CMS 2011 OPPS Final Rule

CMS has released the 2011 OPPS Final Rule with comment period which includes several provisions relating to physician supervision such as:.

• Changed the definition of “immediately available”
• Delayed enforcement of supervision requirements for rural and critical access hospitals (CAHs)
• Announced its plan to convene a panel beginning in 2012 to determine the level of supervision required for different services
• Finalized a new category of “nonsurgical extended duration therapeutic services” that require direct supervision during an initiation period, followed by a minimum standard of general supervision

Additional information is available on the CMS website by clicking here. To access the 2011 OPPS Final Rule, click here. The CY 2011 OPPS/ASC final rule with comment period will appear in the Nov. 24, 2010 Federal Register. Comments on designated provisions are due by 5:00 p.m. EST on Jan. 3, 2011. CMS will respond to comments in the CY 2012 OPPS/ASC final rule.