AHA voices support for PSO-related rules

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has backed a CMS proposal to phase in new patient safety standards for hospitals that wish to contract with Qualified Health Plans in the Health Insurance Marketplaces. “We support CMS’s proposal to connect compliance to selected Conditions of Participation in phase one and to initiate future rulemaking before implementing more robust requirements in the second phase,” wrote AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack. Participation in federally designated and state-level patient safety organizations (PSOs) should be included in a list of options for complying with the new requirements, the AHA stated.