CMS Enforcement of Vaccination Reporting Begins June 14

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Jonathan Lips

Beginning Monday, June 14, CMS will issue citations and mandatory fines to nursing homes that have not submitted the required vaccination-related data to CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network.

May 21 marked the effective date of the new CMS requirements (QSO-21-19-NH) for nursing facilities to offer COVID-19 vaccine to residents and staff, to educate residents and staff regarding the benefits and potential side effects of the vaccine, and to report COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics treatment information to the National Healthcare Safety Network. CMS provided a short grace period for facilities to implement the data reporting aspects of the rule, but that period ends this week. Facilities must begin including vaccination and therapeutic data reporting in facility NHSN submissions by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 13, with enforcement starting June 14. 

In recognition of the new CMS requirement, nursing homes should stop reporting resident and staff vaccination data to the Minnesota Department of Health through REDCap and instead begin reporting data to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network.

This new CMS rule has raised a lot of questions from nursing homes around the country. In the last few weeks, CMS and CDC have addressed some frequently asked questions, and we have prepared this summary for members that we hope will help support compliance. Please contact Jonathan Lips or Kari Everson with any questions about these new requirements.