In May 2024, CMS proposed a new standard requiring hospitals to electronically report information about COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and hospital bed capacity to the Federal Government in a standardized format and frequency specified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, and finalized the requirement on August 1, 2024 and established a November 1, 2024 effective date (FY 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Final Rule; pages 2462-2490). In light of the new reporting requirements, CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network has released new guidance documentation and resources (including lists of data elements, definitions, and CSV import templates) for Hospital Respiratory Data (HRD reporting; formerly ‘COVID-19 Hospital Data reporting’), which is effective as of 10/9/2024. The former COVID-19 Reporting and FAQs are no longer active as of 10/9/2024. Please visit the NHSN HRD website here: https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/psc/hospital-respiratory-reporting.html for more details and updated reporting guidance.

This guidance update reflects the addition of new data elements available for optional reporting to CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) of information related to laboratory-confirmed influenza and laboratory-confirmed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. There are no additions of required data elements or changes to existing data elements as a result of this guidance update. The latest reporting guidance can be found here: 

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/covid-19-faqs-hospitals-hospital-laboratory-acute-care-facility-data-reporting.pdf.

This guidance update reflects changes made to the required data elements for reporting as well as the cadence with which these elements need to be reported to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) following the expiration of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency declaration. There are no significant changes or additions to the reporting questions as a result of this guidance update. Information on reporting to NHSN can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/hospital-reporting.html. 

The updated Federal Guidance for facilities describing reporting responsibilities, procedures, and requirements is contained in the following FAQ titled: COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Reporting and FAQs For Hospitals, Hospital Laboratory, and Acute Care Facility Data Reporting

Starting on December 15, 2022, COVID-19 hospital data collection will be transitioning to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Starting on December 15, the TeleTracking portal will no longer be active for submitting data, and all data will be collected through NHSN. There are no significant changes or additions to the reporting questions as a result of this transition. Reporting requirements will remain the same, with the only significant change being the data system and the need to use NHSN orgIDs.  Information on the transition is available on the transition website, located at https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/transition.html.

Since March 29, 2020, the U.S. government has been collecting data from hospitals and states to understand health care system stress, capacity, capabilities, and the number of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. As the COVID-19 response continues to evolve, Federal needs for data are also evolving. In an effort to reduce burden while maximizing efficiency, the Federal government continues to evaluate data needs.

The updated Federal Guidance for facilities describing reporting responsibilities, procedures, and requirements is contained in the following FAQ titled: “COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Reporting and FAQs For Hospitals, Hospital Laboratory, and Acute Care Facility Data Reporting”

For COVID-19 Hospital Data reporting clarifications, addressing common questions received through webinars, support desk requests, and jurisdiction meetings, please see this story page: COVID-19 Hospital Data Reporting Clarifications. 

Based on the August 10, 2022 update, the following changes are needed in reporting:

Psychiatric & Rehabilitation Hospital Reporting

As of this August 10, 2022 guidance, per Secretary discretion, psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities must submit data federally only once on an annual basis which will go from October to October. This may evolve based on the needs of the national response. All hospitals are asked to follow the direction of their state and jurisdiction to ensure reporting meets STLT needs.

When psychiatric & rehabilitation hospitals report, reporting will still occur once on a Wednesday, in exactly the same way as reporting to date. The only change federally is the reporting cadence- instead of reporting federally every week, psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitals will provide the same snapshot once per year. The jurisdiction and/or hospital have discretion on which Wednesday during the October-October period the facility will report on. All hospitals are asked to follow the direction of their state and jurisdiction to ensure reporting meets STLT needs.

Therapeutic Reporting

On November 2, 2022 therapeutic data reporting will be transitioned to the Health Partner Ordering Portal (HPOP). HPOP is an ordering portal for requesting COVID-19 therapeutic products provided at no cost by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HPOP is used to order COVID-19 therapeutic products allocated by HHS/ASPR. Further information will be provided on therapeutic reporting transition to HPOP, with the therapeutic team determining reporting needs accordingly. While therapeutic data will no longer included in Unified Hospital Data Surveillance System reporting starting November 2, 2022, therapeutic data remains important to the federal response. This information is needed for tracking purposes and strategic decision-making. All hospitals should follow reporting requirements through HPOP. Questions on therapeutic data reporting can be directed to cars_helpdesk@cdc.gov and hpop-therapeutics@hhs.gov.

Vaccination Reporting

As of this August 10, 2022 guidance, healthcare worker vaccination fields have been made federally inactive within the Unified Hospital Data Surveillance System. As a reminder, CMS rule CMS-1752-F and CMS-1762-F requires hospital worker vaccination rates to be reported on a regular basis into the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) as a quality measure beginning on October 1, 2021. NHSN has provided additional information and resources on the measures being collected.

The template has NOT changed beyond adding new fields at the end of the template to minimize technical changes. All fields remain in the template regardless of status.

The goal is to allow facilities, states, and IT vendors the ability to use existing templates until they are able to modify to the new format. As fields become mandatory, the prior templates that do not include those fields will be retired.

The HHS Unified Template is encouraged when possible as we would like to eventually get everyone using this common template that can be used to report to any application. Any new certifications by states or health IT vendors or third-parties who are not currently certified should use the new HHS Unified Template. However, we are continuing to support legacy templates to ensure we provide enough time for migration.

The new and prior templates are found below.