DOH Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Report to Open April 3, 2023

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) will open the Healthcare Personnel (HCP) Influenza Vaccination Report on the Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) on Mon., April 3, 2023. The report must be submitted to DOH by Thurs., June 1, 2023.

The report is a requirement of all facilities covered under New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations, Title 10, Section 2.59 (10 NYCRR Section 2.59), including hospitals, nursing homes, home care, hospice, diagnostic and treatment centers, and adult day health care (ADHC) providers. It does NOT apply to adult care and assisted living facilities, with the exception of home care staff working in the Assisted Living Program (ALP).

Facilities are required to document the number and percentage of HCP vaccinated against influenza for the current season. This year’s report covers HCP employed by or affiliated with facilities or agencies from Oct. 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023.

The report may be accessed on the HERDS here. The Dear Administrator Letter (DAL), accompanying Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and instruction card with detailed guidance on how to access, complete, and submit the report on the HERDS can be found here. A pre-recorded webinar training session for the HCP Influenza Vaccination Report is available online here under the heading “Training.” There is an additional resource available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Methods and Strategies Used to Collect Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Data,” available here.

Questions about the report should be directed to the DOH Bureau of Immunization at 518-473-4437 or immunize@health.ny.gov. Technical questions about the report or on the use of HERDS should be directed to the Health Emergency Preparedness Program at 518-408-5163 or hseppny@health.ny.gov.

As a reminder, there is an additional requirement for nursing homes to report their annual HCP influenza vaccination data to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). This is separate from the DOH reporting mentioned above. It is a NEW requirement for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) for this influenza season, with negative implications for facilities' quality measures if not submitted by the deadline of Mon., May 15, 2023. This reporting will be done through the NHSN Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) Component.

Facilities should be aware that any current reporting of weekly influenza vaccination data through the NHSN Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) Component does NOT fulfill this reporting requirement. This data must be reported through the NHSN HPS Component. A provider may need to go through the process of establishing access and activating this component if not previously done.

A previous LeadingAge NY Intelligence article with more details about this separate reporting requirement, including resources, is available here.

Contact: Carrie Mosley, cmosley@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 ext. 147