CMS' hospital capacity reporting rule takes effect: 10 notes

Beginning Nov. 1, CMS will require hospitals to report admission information related to respiratory illnesses, including capacity, to the CDC. The new rule reinstates some pandemic-era requirements that have been voluntary since May 1. 

Here are 10 notes on the reporting rule:

1. CMS published revisions to the condition of participation requirements for hospitals Aug. 28. 
   
   
2. The revisions require hospitals to report the following information to the CDC:
   
   
   • Confirmed infections for respiratory illnesses, including flu, COVID-19 and RSV among newly admitted and hospitalized patients
     
     
   • Overall bed census and capacity, as well as by hospital setting and age group
     
     
   • Limited patient demographics
     
     
3. In the case of a declared public health emergency at the national, state or local level, hospitals may be required to report:

   • Operational status of facility structure and infrastructure

   • Emergency department diversion status

   • Staffing shortages

   • Supply inventory shortages 

   • Relevant medical countermeasures and therapeutics 

4. Under the new rule, the majority of hospitals are required to submit daily data values on a weekly basis by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday. The information should include data for each day of the previous week, Sunday through Saturday.
   
   
   • Based on feedback received during a public comment period, two data points may be reported as weekly totals: new admissions of patients with confirmed respiratory illnesses and RSV by age group.
     
     
   • Other data elements, including staffed bed capacity and occupancy, prevalence of hospitalizations, and ICU patients with respiratory illnesses, may be reported as one-day-a-week snapshots.
     
     

5. Facilities required to report information to the CDC weekly are:
   
   
   • Short-term acute care hospitals, including Medicaid-only facilities
     
     
   • Long-term care hospitals
     
     
   • Critical access hospitals
     
     
   • Indian Health Service hospitals
     
     
   • Children's hospitals, including Medicaid-only 
     
     
   • Cancer hospitals
     
     

7. Facilities required to report information to the CDC annually in January are:

   • Psychiatric hospitals, including Medicaid-only

   • Rehabilitation hospitals, including Medicaid-only

   • Psychiatric hospital distinct part units

   • Rehabilitation hospital distinct part units
     
     

8. The CDC will evaluate weekly reports for completeness and timeliness, and provide CMS with final reports in four-week periods. 
   
   
9. Failing to report the required information may result in the termination of a hospital’s Medicare and Medicaid participation.
   
   
10. The American Hospital Association and Federation of American Hospitals expressed frustration over the new rule and have urged federal agencies to consider alternative approaches to data sharing, while other experts called on CMS to fund the mandate.
    
    
11. Speaking to Becker's, Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, chief quality and clinical transformation officer at Cleveland-based University Hospitals, called the new rule "burdensome."
    
    "It would be great if the CDC had, or required EMR vendors to make sure that they had, this report so every hospital in America isn't spending weeks writing their own report for the same thing. It seems really silly. The burden could be mitigated significantly if this was a report that was built by the EMR vendors."