According to State officials, when Vermont reaches 80% of
eligible Vermonters having a first COVID-19 vaccine and enters “Step 4” of the
Vermont Forward
Plan, Vermont will no longer require sector-specific guidance for health
care settings, such as the Guidance
for Inpatient and Outpatient Procedures and Hospital
Visitor Guidance. As of June 1, 78.4% of eligible Vermonters have
been vaccinated and 8,708 Vermonters remain to be vaccinated to reach the goal. Given current vaccination rates, the transition
is on pace to occur between June 6 and June 10. At that point, health
care settings may establish their own guidance and may, but will not be required
to, follow CDC
guidance, including Updated
Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations in Response to
COVID-19 Vaccination. This document includes updated testing
recommendations for health care workers, visitation guidance and guidance for
communal gatherings/activities in the health care setting. Some sectors,
such as hospitals and long term care settings, may be required to follow CDC
guidance by federal accreditation/inspection standards. Public messaging from
the State will reinforce that masks may still be required in health care
settings. In addition, Universal
Guidance will be “encouraged” for all businesses, such as staying home when
sick, wearing face coverings when unvaccinated, and practicing good hand
hygiene.
Governor Scott has also stated that he is reviewing when
Vermont will end the State of Emergency related to COVID-19, and that lifting
the emergency might come later this month. Members are reminded that
there are some regulatory flexibilities pegged to the State of Emergency,
although S.
117/Act 6 extended many to a date certain and are not dependent on the
State of Emergency. A summary of Act 6 is available here.
Note the following that are linked to the State of Emergency:
- Waiver of
obtaining/documenting a patient’s informed consent for use of telemedicine
(sunsets 60 days after the State of Emergency) (informed consent for
audio-only telehealth currently required, see
sample);
- Liability
protections for health care providers engaged in emergency management
services or response activities;
- Waiver of licensure
requirements for telehealth services provided to patients located in other
states, such as New Hampshire or New York, are determined by those states’
laws, and in many cases are dependent on the status of a declared
emergency in those states. See the charts from the Federation of State Medical
Boards to confirm if you will need to seek licensure to provide
services to patients located in other states when the state of emergencies
end in those jurisdictions
The following will continue to a date certain:
- Health insurance
companies must continue to reimburse for audio-only telehealth services at
parity with in-person services (through the remainder of 2021);
- Ability for out-of-state
licensed health care professionals to provide services to patients located
in Vermont by telehealth (through March 2022);
- Buprenorphine
prescription renewals without an office visit (through March 2022); and
- Waiver of using HIPAA
compliant telehealth platforms (through March 2022, if
federal waiver continues to allow – dependent on Federal Public Health
Emergency).
For questions or concerns regarding this transition, contact
jbarnard@vtmd.org.
