CMS to issue clarification of its position on privileging

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently drafting a letter to its state survey agencies that clarifies its position on privileging. The letter is expected to arrive as early as October, according to the CMS spokesperson.

The guidance follows on the heels of August discussions between CMS and JCAHO officials about what privileging systems hospitals must have in place to comply with the regulations in the hospital Conditions of Participation (COP) and the accreditor's standards.

Although CMS is reluctant to discuss the details of its forthcoming guidance, an agency spokesperson asserted that the JCAHO and CMS are "in substantive agreement" on the issue of core privileging. However, CMS will not specifically address "core" privileging in its letter, but rather explain what surveyors should expect in a privileging system.

For hospitals-some of which have received conflicting messages from surveyors-the guidance is welcome news as long as it puts all state surveyors enforcing CMS regulations on the same page.