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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is urging health care providers to halt nonessential medical and dental services in the midst of the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The CMS on March 18 recommended that all elective surgeries as well as all nonessential medical, surgical and dental procedures be delayed until further notice. The recommendation was made during a White House Task Force press briefing.
Hospitals and surgery centers were encouraged to delay less urgent procedures such as:
More serious procedures that should continue as scheduled include treatments such as:
The measures are part of an effort to keep as many hospital beds open as possible for COVID-19 patients, as well as keeping enough respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE) in stock to handle the potential rash of incoming patients.
Additionally, some health care workers are being asked to cease their regular duties to assist with COVID-19 treatment.
Dental procedures not only use PPE, but they pose one of the biggest risks of coronavirus transmission due to the close proximity of the healthcare provider to the patient’s mouth.
“The reality is clear and the stakes are high: we need to preserve personal protective equipment for those on the front lines of this fight,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a press release.
The CMS released a tiered guideline for determining whether or not to postpone a procedure.
The criteria used in these determinations include:
Delaying nonessential services will also keep more patients at home and help to mitigate the spread of the infection.
The decision to proceed with non-essential surgeries and procedures will ultimately be made at the local level by the clinician, patient, hospital, and state and local health departments.
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