COVID-19 CDC Reporting and Family Notification Requirements for Nursing Homes
New federal regulations require nursing homes to report COVID-19-related information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and notify residents and families of COVID-19 cases. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is asking facilities to submit their first set of case data to the CDC by Sun., May 17th, but is granting an initial two-week grace period (which ends on May 24th) for this to occur.
Guidance has been issued by both CMS and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) relating to notification to families and others regarding COVID-19 conditions in nursing homes. The State and federal guidance are not identical, and LeadingAge NY thought it would be important to clarify the guidance for members. Taken together, the CMS and DOH COVID-19 notification directives require nursing homes to do the following:
- Notify all residents and family members and representatives of all residents each time either of the following occurs:
- If any resident or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, or if any resident suffers a COVID-19-related death; and
- If there is a cluster of three or more residents and/or staff with new onset of respiratory symptoms (see the CDC guidance on respiratory symptoms) within 72 hours of each other.
- Provide these notifications by 5 p.m. the next calendar day following a single confirmed COVID-19 infection, respiratory symptom cluster, or COVID-19-related death or within 24 hours of such event, whichever comes first.
- Provide cumulative updates of these events at least weekly, or by 5 p.m. the day following the occurrence of a confirmed COVID-19 infection or new-onset respiratory cluster.
- Include information on mitigating actions implemented to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission, including if normal operations of the facility will be altered.
Facilities are reminded not to include personally identifiable information in these notifications. The preamble to the federal rule and the most recent CMS guidance, QSO-20-29-NH, indicate that nursing homes may utilize a variety of communication methods to carry out these notifications, including paper notification, email listservs, website postings, or recorded telephone messages. The DOH directive, Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) C20-01, is not prescriptive on how communication to families should take place. CMS memo QSO-20-29-NH (which includes an FAQ) also indicates that facilities do not have to specify whether individual cases are residents or staff.
In addition to the resident/family notification requirement, CMS guidance requires all nursing homes (for adult care facilities (ACFs), the CDC reporting is not required, but is at the option of the provider) to report information to the CDC. LeadingAge NY had previously issued guidance on the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) at the CDC with an overview of the reporting module and instructions on how to register in the network.
The areas covered in the reporting to the NHSN are as follows:
(i) Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 infections among residents and staff, including residents previously treated for COVID-19;
(ii) Total deaths and COVID-19 deaths among residents and staff;
(iii) Personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand hygiene supplies in the facility;
(iv) Ventilator capacity and supplies in the facility;
(v) Resident beds and census;
(vi) Access to COVID-19 testing while the resident is in the facility;
(vii) Staffing shortages; and
(viii) Other information specified by the Secretary.
These CDC reporting requirements are in addition to, and do not take the place of, the required daily DOH reporting through the Integrated Health Alerting and Notification System (IHANS).
Contact: Elliott Frost, efrost@leadingageny.org, 518-441-8761