The new CMS emergency preparedness final rule and its impact on healthcare in 2017.

The new CMS Final Rule on Emer- gency Preparedness will be a major change for hospitals and many other types of healthcare providers, the authors claim. One of the most im- portant changes for hospitals will be the requirement to do the Security Risk Assessments and matching Emergency Plans for each separate facility, every year, instead of only doing a consolidated risk assess- ment on all facilities in one report. Failure to comply could have a major and disastrous economic im- pact on a hospital or other health care facility. In this article they pro- vide information and access to re- sources for complying.