Vizient Urges Congress and CMS to Make Recently Expanded Telehealth Flexibilities Permanent

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vizient Inc. today urged Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to make permanent many of the legislative and regulatory actions, particularly those related to telehealth, that have been put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, America’s hospitals and health care professionals have taken unprecedented steps to reconfigure health care delivery offerings through telehealth and other technologies. Many of these new modalities were deployed quickly, and successfully, throughout the country, allowing providers to both help slow the spread of the virus and ensure continued patient access to care.

In its letter to Congress, Vizient applauded the leadership and bold steps that have been taken to support the rapid expansion of telehealth. Vizient also praised the work of leaders at CMS on this critical initiative and similarly urged them to take action in their response to the interim final rule, “Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Basic Health Program, and Exchanges: Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Delay of Certain Reporting Requirements for the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program.”

“We have consistently heard from our hospital members about the need to make permanent many of the new flexibilities related to telehealth,” said Julie Cerese, group senior vice president, performance management and national networks for Vizient. “Health care providers have made significant investments to rapidly expand and deploy these new opportunities to increase access to care, all while enduring concurrent financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We strongly urge Congress and CMS to make permanent new flexibilities related to telehealth so that providers can more fully integrate these new health care delivery opportunities after the public health emergency expires.”

Vizient is the nation’s largest member-driven health care performance improvement company, providing innovative data-driven solutions, expertise, and collaborative opportunities that lead to improved patient outcomes and lower costs.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 95% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory care providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.