Regulatory Requirements | 08.25.20
NAMSS Launches Hospital Closure Toolkit
By Molly Giammarco, MPP
NAMSS is pleased to launch the NAMSS Hospital Closure Toolkit — a comprehensive resource to help MSPs prepare, communicate, and execute protocol to preserve practitioner-credentialing data during hospital closures. MSPs are the gatekeepers for patient safety and play a critical role in preserving practitioner data and ensuring that the medical staff adheres to facility bylaws, state requirements, and accrediting body protocol during a hospital closure.
NAMSS developed the NAMSS Hospital Closure Toolkit in response the growing hospital closure trend throughout the United States. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was tracking to exceed the 47 U.S. closed-hospitals record set in 2019. Estimates in the Guidehouse 2020 Rural Hospital Sustainability Index indicate that close to 350 rural hospitals across 40 states are at-risk for closing in the near future.[1]
Closures can happen quickly, leaving medical staffs little time to prepare for, and execute, a closure. Because of MSPs’ expertise in practitioner-data purpose and storage, MSPs often have the responsibility of overseeing the medical staff office closure and executing a plan for safeguarding all practitioner data. This expectation can be daunting and factors surrounding a closure intensify this duty.
Having experienced several hospital closures, Diane Meldi, MBA, CPCS, CPMSM, NAMSS Government Relations Liaison, speaks to the importance of this toolkit and the importance of MSPs understanding their facilities’ closure protocols. “I’ve experienced two hospital closures in my MSP career. The process is difficult and daunting for MSPs. The NAMSS Hospital Closure Toolkit would have been a great resource to have during these closings. I hope that this toolkit assists those facing closings in the future.
The NAMSS Hospital Closure Toolkit is now available on the NAMSS website and is available to all NAMSS members. The NAMSS team will continue to revise and contribute to the toolkit as necessary and always welcomes member feedback. To learn more about the toolkit, contact Molly Giammarco, NAMSS Senior Manager for Policy & Government Relations.
NAMSS thanks for following individuals for making the NAMSS Hospital Closure Toolkit possible:
- Diane Meldi, MBA, CPCS, CPMSM, NAMSS Government Relations Liaison
- Susan DuBois, CPCS, NAMSS Government Relations Liaison
- Erin Muellenberg, JD, CPMSM, NAMSS Education Committee Chair
Molly Giammarco, MPP, is the senior manager for NAMSS policy and government relations.