HHS Makes Significant Changes to COVID-19 Daily Data Reporting Process

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced significant changes to the process for hospitals to fulfill the agency’s request for daily data reporting on bed capacity, utilization, personal protective equipment (PPE) and in-house laboratory testing data. The most significant changes are detailed below.

Reporting Options. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) COVID-19 module will no longer be an option for daily data reporting as of July 15. Hospitals are asked to use one of the other reporting options to fulfill the data reporting request, including:

• Reporting data to their state health departments, provided that their states have assumed responsibility for reporting hospital data to HHS. Such states have written authorization from their Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) regional administrator that they are assuming data reporting responsibilities. In turn, states should provide hospitals with written notification they are submitting data to HHS on their behalf.
   
• Report to the HHS TeleTracking portal, an existing option for daily reporting. The TeleTracking portal also has been used for special data reporting requests related to high-impact funds distribution, as well as remdesivir distribution. For issues with accessing the TeleTracking portal or questions about the data, contact TeleTracking Technical Support at 1-877-570-6903.

Data Fields. HHS has made significant updates to the data fields it is asking for in daily reporting. For example, HHS is asking for information on both pediatric and adult patients, and is asking hospitals for information about their inventory of remdesivir.

The AHA strongly urges all hospitals to review the announcement and report the data to HHS as requested. HHS stressed in the announcement the importance of reporting the requested data on a daily basis to inform the Administration’s ongoing response to the pandemic, including the allocation of supplies, treatments and other resources. In addition, the agency notes it will no longer ask for one-time requests for data to aid in the distribution of remdesivir or any other treatments or supplies. This means that the daily reporting is the only mechanism used for the distribution calculations