The latest NHSN reporting requirements are confusing and the frustration is bubbling over with members who are trying to comply and receive the negative surprise of being reported non-compliant. LeadingAge National will be submitting comments to the federal register on the interim final rule, but in the meantime, we’ve reached out to CDC and CMS to gain clarification and share some of the issues we’re hearing.

• What SAMS level is required for vaccination reporting?
  Only SAMS Level 1 is required for vaccination reporting, because the reporting is aggregate, nursing home-level reporting, not individual, patient-level reporting. If you are being denied access at Level 1, double-check to be sure you are reporting in the correct module. There is a COVID-19 vaccine reporting module under the Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) module that is intended for hospitals and requires Level 3 access. Nursing homes should be reporting under the Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) module which requires Level 1 access.
• What reporting weeks are being cited and penalized?
  Our understanding is that providers will only be cited and penalized for non-reporting beginning with week ending 06/20 and going forward. We have reached out to CMS to clarify/confirm.
• How can we correct the problem if we can’t see the problem?
  Providers were notified of non-reporting beginning with week ending 06/13 and penalties were enforced for non-reporting with week ending 06/20; however, the latest publicly available data is 06/06. Without seeing the data and with no explanations of the problem, it has been challenging to correct reporting issues. We have reached out to CMS regarding this issue with no opportunity to correct.

Questions?

Contact:

Laura Hofmann, MSN, RN – Director of Clinical and Nursing Facility Regulatory Services
c: 425-231-4804