Update on relief efforts, waivers related to Hurricane Harvey

The AHA this week is running print and digital ads in Modern Healthcare on how to support hospital employees affected by Hurricane Harvey. “Please help support the Texas hospital employees whose lives have been impacted by the devastating destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey,” the ad states. “While thousands of our colleagues work around the clock to serve emergency response efforts, their families are being affected by this historic storm and flooding damage. The Texas Hospital Association has provided ways to help. For information on how to help or to make a donation, visit: www.tha.org/Harvey/ReliefFund.” In other news related to Harvey, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently shared additional waiver information for Medicare-dependent small, rural hospitals and for low-volume hospitals, as well as information regarding administrative relief related to timely filing of appeals. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a health advisory to remind clinicians evaluating persons affected by the storm to maintain a high index of suspicion for carbon monoxide poisoning. CDC also updated ICD-10-CM coding advice for health care encounters in the aftermath of a hurricane. The AHA worked with other groups to update the advice, which was originally published in 2005.