AHCA Regulatory Update: CMS Issues Final Rule Impacting Nursing Home NHSN Reporting Starting January 1, 2025

• By: Ben Hawkins
• On: 11/04/2024 09:17:22
• In: Quality/Regulatory

The American Health Care Association reported: on Friday, Nov. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Calendar Year 2025 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update, which includes significant changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) reporting requirements for nursing homes. 

Beginning on January 1, 2025, nursing homes will be required to electronically report information about COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This will replace the current nursing home COVID-19 reporting requirements to NHSN that are set to sunset on December 31, 2024. 

AHCA is pleased to see CMS and CDC acknowledge and address the reporting burden on providers in the final rule as well as in their response to AHCA's comments. Specifically, CMS notes they are requiring the minimal necessary data for weekly data reporting to NHSN to maintain a level of situational awareness that will protect resident health and safety, and CDC has combined the required reporting fields into one simplified reporting form in NHSN. CDC will also provide enhanced user support, an improved helpdesk ticket response system, and training tailored to the LTC community to support the use of NHSN. 

The new data elements for which NHSN reporting will be required on January 1, 2025, include: 

• Facility census 
• Resident vaccination status for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV
• Confirmed resident cases of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV (overall and by vaccination status) 
• Hospitalized residents with confirmed cases of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV (overall and by vaccination status). 

The final rule also allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in the event of a future acute respiratory illness public health emergency (PHE), to require submission of additional related data elements or an increased frequency of reporting. CMS also withdrew the portion of the proposed rule that would have allowed the Secretary to increase data reporting if a significant threat for a PHE for an acute infectious illness exists. 

This rule is scheduled to be published on November 7, 2024, and can be found here. Please feel free to send questions to regulatory@ahca.org.

Staff contact: bhawkins@mehca.org