LeadingAge National to CMS: Reduce Nursing Home COVID-Related NHSN Reporting
(June 4, 2024) In a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Brooks-LaSure on May 31st, LeadingAge National requested the reduction of requirements on nursing homes to report COVID-related data through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The association pointed out that the nation's approach to COVID has evolved over time and that infection control and treatment strategies are no longer tied to the data reported through NHSN. Further, the letter noted that nursing home NHSN reporting should align with the CDC's standard approach to COVID as a respiratory virus and its termination of hospital COVID reporting requirements.
Given the evolution in the public health response to the COVID virus, LeadingAge National urged CMS to:
- allow the COVID reporting requirements to expire on Dec. 31, 2024, without imposing further requirements.
- amend the regulations to eliminate duplicative NHSN reporting of resident COVID vaccination status. Nursing homes will be incentivized through the nursing home Quality Reporting Program to report these data using Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments beginning Oct. 1, 2024.
- reduce health care personnel COVID vaccination reporting through NHSN from weekly to annually per respiratory virus season to align with reporting requirements for flu vaccination status.
LeadingAge NY will keep members apprised of any changes in NHSN reporting requirements.
Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org