State Opens Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Report
(April 29, 2025) The Department of Health (DOH) issued a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) on April 25th opening the Healthcare Personnel (HCP) Influenza Vaccination Report. The deadline for submission of the report is Fri., June 27th.
The report is a requirement of all facilities covered under NY Codes, Rules, and Regulations, Title 10, Section 2.59 (10 NYCRR Section 2.59) (also known as the “flu mask regulation”), including hospitals, nursing homes, home care, hospice, diagnostic and treatment centers, and adult day health care (ADHC) providers. Facilities and organizations are required to document the number and percentage of HCP vaccinated against influenza for the current season. This report requirement does NOT apply to assisted living and adult care facilities (ACFs), with the exception of home care staff working in the Assisted Living Program (ALP); however, ACFs should be tracking this information consistent with Article 21-A of the Public Health Law (PHL). Click here for more background.
More information regarding the regulation is available here. Questions can be directed to DOH at immunize@health.ny.gov.
Members should also note that this week, the State declared influenza no longer prevalent, which allows providers to no longer wear a mask if they have not received the influenza vaccination. That declaration is here.
Nursing homes are also reminded that in addition to the State requirements, they are required to file an annual report on HCP influenza vaccination rates by May 15th through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). To meet Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) requirements, nursing homes must report the influenza vaccination status of all HCP who worked for at least one day between Oct. 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. The report must be submitted through the Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) Component of NHSN by May 15th. SNFs are reminded that this information does factor into QRP data and does have significant negative impact if you do not complete it.
The three categories of HCP that need to be reported are employees; licensed independent practitioners, such as non-employee physicians, advanced practice nurses, and physician assistants; and adult students/trainees and volunteers aged 18 and over. NHSN includes an option to enter vaccination data for other contract personnel and vendors, but this data is not currently required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Linked here are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) HCP Influenza Summary Reporting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which were updated for last year's survey and reflect the most current information available at this time, as there has been no information shared about this existing requirement for this year.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871