Proposed change to 2015 New York State hospital-acquired infection reporting requirements
September 5, 2014
The New York State Department of Health (Department) requires that hospitals report certain hospital-acquired infections using CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). In 2014, hospitals were required to report central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units, surgical site infections following colon, hip replacement, coronary artery bypass graft, and abdominal hysterectomy procedures, Clostridium difficile infections, and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections. The Department is proposing to expand this list of indicators to include CLABSIs in four additional hospital locations:
- Medical wards
- Surgical wards
- Medical-surgical wards
- Step-down units.
As with other indicators, the data would be reported to the NHSN using the following location names: IN:ACUTE:WARD:M, IN:ACUTE:WARD:M_PED, IN:ACUTE:WARD:S, IN:ACUTE:WARD:S_PED, IN:ACUTE:WARD:MS, IN:ACUTE:WARD:MS_PED, IN:ACUTE:STEP, IN:ACUTE:STEP:PED. The effective date would be January 1, 2015.
This proposal is consistent with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS) expansion to medical, surgical, and medical-surgical wards effective January 2015 (Federal Register 78 (160), August 19, 2013, page 50787). Almost all hospitals in New York participate in the CMS IPPS; for these hospitals, this proposal involves only adding reporting in step-down units. Monitoring CLABSIs in all hospital inpatient locations is supported by the National Quality Forum (CLABSI measure 0139). The locations listed above were selected because they are some of the most common locations where central lines are used, and some hospitals do not yet have capabilities to easily track central line usage hospital-wide.
Expanding CLABSI surveillance is important to decrease morbidity and mortality associated with these preventable infections. Evidence-based central line insertion and maintenance practices to reduce the risk of CLABSIs are applicable to central line use across hospital locations. Standardized surveillance allows hospitals to track their progress over time and compared to other facilities.
For additional information about the Department's HAI Reporting Program, see Hospital-Acquired Infection (HAI) Rates in New York State Hospitals.
Please email comments on this proposed change to: HAI@health.ny.gov or write to: Hospital-Acquired Infection Reporting Program, New York State Department of Health, Corning Tower Room 523, Albany NY, 12237 by October 3, 2014.
Sincerely,
Valerie Haley, PhD
Director, HAI Reporting Program
