MDS Alert

Question: Facilities are expected to report COVID-19 data on certain platforms. What are they looking for in the data?

Pennsylvania Subscriber

Answer: One way the federal government is trying to keep measure the spread of COVID-19 is through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), which serves as a tracking tool to monitor the spread of healthcare-associated infections. There’s a dedicated module for long-term care facilities (LTCF) to submit surveillance data surrounding COVID-19. The relevant data includes the following measures, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website:

• “Counts of residents and facility personnel newly positive for COVID-19 based on viral test results.
• “COVID-19 vaccination status of residents newly positive for COVID-19.
• “Re-infections in residents and facility personnel previously infected with COVID-19.
• “COVID-19 related death counts among residents and facility personnel.
• “Staffing shortages.
• “Availability and surge capacity use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and alcohol-based hand rub.
• “Monoclonal therapeutic availability and use.
• “Ventilator capacity and supplies for facilities with ventilator-dependent units.”

The CDC describes the NHSH, generally, as a way of tracking and measuring healthcare-associated infections and complying with relevant state and federal reporting mandates. The bigger picture aspects include evaluating progress made in containing and stopping spread, and, ultimately, eliminating healthcare-associated infections, which now includes COVID-19.

For more information about the LTCF COVID-19 Module, including guidance on the Point-of-Care (POC) Test Reporting Tool, see www.cdc.gov/nhsn/ltc/covid19/index.html.