COVID-19 Medical Practice Reopening Checklist

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued guidance on resuming non-essential procedures in areas with low incidence of COVID-19, but it’s up to each state and locality to decide when and how stay-home orders are lifted, as well as how many businesses begin a phased process for reopening and returning to normal operations.

In a recent webinar presentation ("COVID-19: Planning to Re-Start Your Practice"), Brian Ramos, MBA, CMPE, chief operating officer, Capital Anesthesia Partners, and president, Maryland MGMA, detailed a number of considerations related to managing this unique time as parts of the country look to loosen mandated closure orders while still including some social distancing guidance.

While medical practices have always been busy, "we're busier than ever," Ramos noted in the presentation. "It's really, really busy and new. We're in a constant phase of learning."

In addition to rapidly expanding telehealth services, practice leaders have juggled the need to source personal protective equipment (PPE), while also running new financial analyses based on reduced patient volumes and, in many cases, laying off and/or furloughing staff.

If your medical practice is trying to make sense of a reopening strategy and the steps to resume non-essential procedures and begin managing a backlog of patient visits that could not be addressed via telehealth services, this medical practice reopening checklist to outline the various financial, operational, staffing and procedural considerations to resume operations and ramp up work in the coming weeks and months, depending on your locality and state.