This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the requirements and enforcement process for all Medicare and Medicaid hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to report COVID-19 data. Hospitals and CAHs must report daily to the federal government or to their state if they receive a written release from the state. Failure to do so will result in a series of enforcements actions over several weeks that could result in termination of the Medicare provider agreement. Separate guidance provides the definitions of the data elements for hospitals and in-hospital labs.
