CMS Rule: Nursing Facilities Must Report Covid-19 Data to CDC, Residents, Families and Representatives

In interim final rules that went into effect May 8, 2020,[1] the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires nursing facilities, at least on a weekly basis, to report electronically to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) information about COVID-19. The required reporting includes suspected and confirmed cases among residents and staff; total deaths and COVID-19 deaths; personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, and supplies; resident beds and census; testing; and staffing shortages. CMS will publicly report the data.

The rules also require facilities to inform residents, their representatives, and families by 5:00 p.m. the next calendar day when they have either “a single confirmed infection of COVID-19, or three or more residents or staff with new-onset of respiratory symptoms occurring within 72 hours of each other.”[2] Daily information and cumulative information reported weekly must be reported through such mechanisms as “email listserves, website postings, paper notification, and/or recorded telephone messages.”
Comments on the interim final rule are due July 7, 2020.

A Survey & Certification Letter published two days before the interim final rule described the rule and provided answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the new reporting requirements as well as updates on CMS’s COVID-19 Focused Surveys for Nursing Facilities.[3]
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[1] CMS, , “Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Basic Health Program, and Exchanges: Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Delay of Certain Reporting Requirements for the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program,” CMS-5531-IFC, 85 Fed. Reg. 27550, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-08/pdf/2020-09608.pdf.
[2] 42 C.F.R. §473.80(g)(3); 85 Fed Reg. 27601-27602.
[3] CMS, “Interim Final Rule Updating Requirements for Notification of Confirmed and Suspected COVID-19 Cases Among Residents and Staff in Nursing Homes,” QSO-20-29-NH (May 6, 2020), https://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-20-29-nh.pdf.