Medicare requiring nursing homes to report weekly vaccination count

Federal health officials will require long-term care facilities residents and staff to report COVID-19 vaccinations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) every week.

The rule will take effect beginning in two weeks.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the requirement on Tuesday, as officials aim to use the information to help track vaccinations in these congregate care settings and determine which might need more resources during the pandemic.

The move comes as an initial effort to get shots to nursing homes across the country, as part of a federal pharmacy partnership, has wound down.

The rule to submit the data to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) applies to long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, and residential facilities for those with intellectual disabilities.

Long-term care facilities already have to report COVID-19 testing, case and death data. But COVID-19 vaccination statistics have not previously been mandated, despite requirements to report influenza and pneumococcal vaccines.

Why it’s important: The rule intends to limit the amount of severe illness and deaths occurring in these facilities after nursing homes became breeding grounds for the virus, leading to many deaths among the vulnerable residents.

Quote: “Reporting vaccination rates is critical to facilitating in-person visitations in nursing homes, tracking the effectiveness of the vaccines, and helping ensure the industry meets our goal to vaccinate 75 percent of staff by the end of June,” David Gifford, the chief medical officer of American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, said, although the group said results should not be used to “judge” nursing homes with low vaccine rates.

What’s next: CMS said it is looking into extending the policies to psychiatric residential treatment facilities, group homes and assisted living facilities.