CDC to Streamline Some NHSN Reporting

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Jonathan Lips

In a recent national stakeholder call, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previewed changes coming to the COVID-19 Long-Term Care Facility module and vaccination reporting module in NHSN. Beginning May 23, reporting in both modules will be streamlined to simplify some reporting.

CDC will be removing some data elements relating to information that has become less important as we learn more and evolve strategies in our national response to COVID-19.

Examples include removal of breakdowns by vaccine manufacturer on data elements related to vaccine status and positive SARS-CoV-2 testing, breakdowns by test type on data elements related to SARS-CoV-2 testing, and streamlining of questions around boosters and “up to date” status.

Data elements related to co-infections and re-infections will be removed. Those related to personal protective equipment (PPE) capacity and staffing shortages will be streamlined into single questions with drop-down modifying questions for those indicating shortages in either person protective equipment or staff.

While CDC has not yet posted details of these coming modifications to the NHSN website, training webinars are planned for mid-May ahead of the changes, and we will watch for those registration links to go live.

On the call, CDC also reminded stakeholders that Event-Level COVID-19 Vaccination Forms are now available in the NHSN application for long-term care facilities to manage person-level vaccination data and simplify summarizing data for weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Modules. 

Use of these forms is optional, and they will replace the Excel Data Tracking Worksheets (also optional) that have been available for some time. The new event-level form requires SAMS 3 access because vaccination status is recorded at the individual level rather than aggregate numbers. Data on the forms carry forward week-to-week to track vaccination status over time. The forms also auto-classify and calculate aggregate numbers and vaccination status.

Care centers may review this Event-Level COVID-19 Vaccination Form Quick Reference Guide and the Training Slides from recent educational events for more information.