In a previous Health Law Insider blog post, Stoel Rives’ health care team discussed the prohibition on elective procedures promulgated by Oregon and Washington in an effort to conserve the states’ supply of Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”) and manage provider treatment capacity to ensure adequate resources were available to combat COVID-19. Recently, Oregon and Washington issued guidance permitting providers to gradually restart the provision of elective and non-emergent procedures.[1] As discussed below, Washington also released interpretive guidance to help providers determine how to assess “harm” to the patient that would help determine which procedures are urgent such that they are permitted under the “critical care phase” described in Governor Inslee’s Proclamation 20-24.1.

Additionally, Minnesota recently eased its prohibitions on non-urgent and elective procedures. For information regarding Minnesota’s order, please refer to our earlier client alert.

Oregon

Oregon’s requirements for resumption of elective and non-emergent procedures are onerous and differ based on the provider type. Prior to resuming elective and non-emergent procedures, hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers (“ASC”), must:

• Ensure that they have adequate bed and workforce capacity to “accommodate an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in addition to increased post-procedure hospitalizations.” Specifically, hospital bed (i.e., ICU, step-down, and medical/surgical beds) availability in the region must be maintained at or below 20% and providers must have sufficient capacity to treat all hospitalized patients “without resorting to crises standard of care”;
• Attest that they are maintaining a 30-day PPE supply on hand (two-week supply and an “open supply chain” is sufficient for “small facilities”);[2]
• Be able to obtain “sustained PPE supply” without the triggering PPE-conserving measures;
• Hospitals must provide a daily PPE supplies report to the Oregon Health Authority’s hospital capacity web system;
• Have adequate access to COVID-19 testing capacity that provides results within two days (four days for smaller facilities) and consider testing patients before performing non-emergent or elective procedures;
• Have strict infection control and visitation policies in place; and
• Have sufficient resources for peri-operative care (e.g., pre- and post-operative provider visits; lab, radiology, and pathology services; and other ancillary services).

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Continue Reading Non-Urgent and Elective Procedures Update: Oregon and Washington Ease Prohibitions