CDC Will Update NHSN to Accept Laboratory Test Results

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Jonathan Lips

Since early May care centers have been using the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) to report COVID-19 cases and related data to the CDC.

Recently NHSN has begun notifying registered users that it is expanding reporting options in the long-term care facility COVID-19 module and encouraging users to upgrade their security status to access these options.

The reason for these notifications is that CDC on October 15th will upgrade the NSHN to allow nursing homes to report point-of-care antigen test results on an individual patient level. For a registered user to access the new reporting pathway, however, s/he will need SAMS Level Three security access, and most nursing homes initially enrolled in NHSN through an expedited process that granted only Level One access.

The intent of this upgrade is to facilitate compliance with laboratory reporting requirements, and we encourage members to watch for an email from NHSN on this topic and to begin the security enhancement process as soon as you can. Migration to Level Three will also enable users to access additional NHSN surveillance modules, analytic tools and data reports.

Users will complete an identity verification process (similar to applying for a passport) to gain Level Three access and receive a SAMS “grid card” in the mail. Users will then use the grid card to log in to NHSN. The process can take up to four weeks to be completed, but you will not lose access to NHSN at any time during the process. You will still be able to submit weekly reports to NHSN using Level One enrollment while your complete the upgrade to Level Three. An overview of the process can be found here.

The NHSN team highly recommends that two users within your facility upgrade to Level Three access. When your NHSN Facility Administrator has completed the transition to Level Three, you will be asked to provide the name and email address of a designee to follow the same ID verification process, and providers are encouraged to complete this process for a second Level Three user. This is an evolving story, and we will provide additional detail to members in the days ahead.