Special Bulletin: HHS Updates COVID-19 Hospital Daily Data Reporting Guidance and FAQs

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday updated its guidance and frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the agency’s request for daily COVID-19-related hospital data reporting. The most notable changes are detailed below, and the updated guidance is effective immediately.

Supply Data

HHS makes two significant changes to the process of reporting certain supply data.

• Hospitals may decrease the frequency of reporting supply-related data fields – i.e., items 26-32 in the guidance document’s table – from daily to three times per week. Specifically, HHS is asking hospitals to report these data on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
• For the data fields asking hospitals for the days of on-hand supply (i.e., items 27 and 28 in the guidance document’s table), hospitals now have the option of selecting a range of days, rather than calculating a specific number.

HHS Hospital Data Liaisons

As of the week of July 27, HHS has begun to deploy “Hospital Data Liaisons.” These teams are working collaboratively with states to obtain information about barriers to reporting complete data, and over time, are expected to help states and hospitals obtain additional clarification and guidance around reporting requests.

FAQs

In addition to an FAQ on hospital data liaisons, HHS includes five other FAQs that address, among other topics, how to fix data errors, how organizations (like hospital associations) can get access to data, and what hospitals should do if they cannot report data on weekends.

See AHA’s July 13 Special Bulletin for additional details on the options hospitals can use to fulfill HHS’s reporting request.