Below is important information regarding Long-term care facilities (LTCF) and reporting COVID-19 data to NHSN once the Public Health Emergency has ended.
Long-term care facilities that are CMS certified will still need to report to the LTCF COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways (Resident Impact and Facility Capacity, Staff and Personnel Impact, and Therapeutics) and the COVID-19 Vaccination Module once the Public Health Emergency is declared over on May 11, 2023
In 2020, CMS published an IFC (CMS-5531-IFC) requiring all LTC facilities to report COVID-19 information using the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) (42 CFR 483(g)). This requirement was extended through a final rule (CMS-1747-F) and is set to terminate on December 31, 2024. This excludes the requirements at § 483.80(g)(1)(viii), which will continue to support national efforts to control the spread of COVID-19.
Please note, the COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways (Resident Impact and Facility Capacity, Staff and Personnel Impact, and Therapeutics) and the COVID-19 Vaccination Module are two separate modules and data will need to be reported to both on a weekly basis. Reporting to only one module does NOT satisfy the CMS reporting requirements.
NHSN provides a pathway to report data but is not a regulatory or enforcement body. Please direct any questions and/or concerns regarding reporting requirements and penalties/fines to CMS for further information.
The COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways will undergo updates in response to the end of the Public Health Emergency, including:
- Reducing vaccination elements to include only up to date status for residents with a positive COVID-19 test
- Removal of influenza data field
- Removal of staffing and supply shortages data fields
- Removal of deaths in the Staff and Personnel Impact Pathway
- Removal of the therapeutics pathway
- Addition of a new data field, hospitalizations, in the Resident Impact and Facility Capacity Pathway to assess relevant outcome data on residents with a positive COVID-19 test.
New Updates to the NHSN LTCF COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways Webinars
Specific details regarding these changes will be reviewed during upcoming training webinars.
Registration Information for Upcoming Training Webinars
Please register in advance and plan to attend one of the training sessions to learn more about the new updates. Each webinar will cover the same information; therefore, you may only need to attend once.
When: Thursday, June 1, 2023, 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: New Updates to the NHSN LTCF COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways
Register in advance for this webinar: https://cdc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_lQ92SJReSe6gu3RlRbiqaA
When: Wednesday, June 7, 2023, 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: New Updates to the NHSN LTCF COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways
Register in advance for this webinar: https://cdc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_WO7zz66lSwyFGUfEx2bU7g
When: Thursday, June 8 & Thursday June 13, 2023, 02:00 PM Eastern time (US & Canada)
Topic: New Updates to the NHSN LTCF COVID-19 Module Surveillance Pathways
Register in advance for this webinar: https://cdc.zoomgov.com/j/1605578239?pwd=TWxwb202WW9tSUpoTi9aVWRNZXBUQT09
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
For questions about any of these updates, please send an e-mail to the NHSN Helpdesk at NHSN@cdc.gov with the subject line identifying the topic of the message.