Now that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar has again renewed the official declaration of a public health emergency (PHE) related to the 2019 novel coronavirus, hospitals and other providers can continue to take advantage of CMS blanket 1135 waivers.

Physicians and other healthcare providers will now be paid to counsel patients about the importance of self-isolation after testing for COVID-19, even before test results are known, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.

The steadily climbing maternal mortality rate in the U.S. has (appropriately) attracted a great deal of media attention over the last few years.

Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the rate has more than doubled since 1987, reaching an alarming high of 17.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. That is well above the Healthy People 2020 goal of 11.4.

Worse, the CDC estimates that 60% of maternal deaths reviewed in a study were preventable. Stopping those would result in easily meeting and surpassing the Healthy People 2020 goal.

Here are areas where your facility can work to ease patients’ safety concerns during the pandemic. They come from Colleen McCrory, MBA, FACHE, a coach in Huron’s Studer Group advisory firm with 19 years of experience in healthcare leadership and coaching.

Expect The Joint Commission (TJC) to get tougher on some areas of survey, particularly with the physical environment and off-campus facilities, and to change the level of detail in its daily briefing about what surveyors are finding.

In mid-July, CMS confirmed that TJC—one of the nation’s longest-running accrediting organizations (AO) and a longtime standard-setter in patient safety—has earned CMS approval as an AO for hospitals.

But only for two years.

As of this writing, the novel 2019 coronavirus has infected over 4.6 million Americans and killed over 155,000. Unemployment is at its highest level since the Great Depression, and experts predict mass evictions as financial aid measures run out.

People have been isolated for months from their loved ones or forced to shelter in place in unhealthy living situations. Scientists and governments around the world are sounding dire warnings about climate change even as countries brace for hurricane season. Massive social unrest and protests have forced the United States and other nations to confront ugly realities involving race, law enforcement, and corruption.

Many of these topics might not seem like they fall under the purview of healthcare. Nor is it always clear what can be done to help people dealing with things like unemployment or rent insecurity. But if providers are to keep providing quality care during the pandemic, say experts, they must have open and honest conversations with their patients about what is causing them stress and what providers can do to help.