The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has informed GNYHA that hospitals do not need to meet today’s deadline for reporting hospital-acquired infection (HAI) data for the March reporting period.
We expect DOH to issue more definitive guidance on HAI reporting requirements to take into account challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last month that reporting of the same data would be voluntary for hospitals. However, CMS has also said those hospitals that choose to report HAI data to the National Health Safety Network (NHSN) registry would be included in Medicare’s public reporting of these data and any related payment penalty programs. Most New York State hospitals are therefore opting to not report to NHSN, to account for COVID-19 patients and clinical factors that could potentially confound reporting on these patients. The DOH HAI program also uses NHSN for hospital data submissions.
GNYHA has urged DOH to align with CMS and will continue to advocate for suspension of HAI reporting. We are grateful for today’s announcement while DOH considers its longer-term decision.