Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call (404) 639-7570 or send an email to omb@cdc.gov. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) (OMB No. 0920-0666), exp. 01/31/2015—Revision—National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) is a system designed to accumulate, exchange, and integrate relevant information and resources among private and public stakeholders to support local and national efforts to protect patients and promote healthcare safety. Specifically, the data is used to determine the magnitude of various healthcare-associated adverse events and trends in the rates of these events among patients and healthcare workers with similar risks. The data will be used to detect changes in the epidemiology of adverse events resulting from new and current medical therapies and changing risks. The NHSN consists of four components: Patient Safety, Healthcare Personnel Safety, Biovigilance, and Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF). In general, the data reported under the Patient Safety Component protocols are used to (1) determine the magnitude of the healthcare-associated adverse events under study, trends in the rates of events, in the distribution of pathogens, and in the adherence to prevention practices, and (2) to detect changes in the epidemiology of adverse events resulting from new medical therapies and changing patient risks. Additionally, reported data will be used to describe the epidemiology of antimicrobial use and resistance and to understand the relationship of antimicrobial therapy to this growing problem. Under the Healthcare Personnel Safety Component protocols, data on events, both positive and adverse, are used to determine (1) the magnitude of adverse events in healthcare personnel and (2) compliance with immunization and sharps injuries safety guidelines. Under the Biovigilance Component, data on adverse reactions and incidents associated with blood transfusions are used to provide national estimates of adverse reactions and incidents. The Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) Component is used to more specifically and appropriately capture data from the residents of skilled nursing facilities. Surveillance methods and definitions for this component specifically address the nuances of LTCF residents.

This revision submission includes major revisions to the Patient Safety Component—Outpatient Dialysis Center Practices Survey (Form 57.104) in an effort to provide further clarification to those collecting the information. Additionally, some of the changes have been made to improve surveillance data available for the outpatient dialysis population. Due to the CMS End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Improvement Program (QIP) reporting requirements, over 5,700 dialysis facilities have already enrolled or will enroll into NHSN to report data in 2012. Form 57.104 is completed by each facility upon enrollment into NHSN and then every January thereafter.

Furthermore, minor revisions have been made to 28 other forms within the package to clarify and/or update surveillance definitions. Six forms have been removed for the purposes of simplification from the Healthcare Personnel Safety Component of the package due to changes within NHSN reporting of healthcare personnel influenza vaccination. Old functionality of individual level vaccination reporting will be removed from NHSN. CMS Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) requirements designate that all acute care facilities will report healthcare personnel vaccination counts at the summary level for the 2012-2013 flu season.

The previously approved NSHN package included 54 individual collection forms; the current revision request removes six forms for a total of 48 forms. The reporting burden will decrease by 415,523 hours, for a total of 3,562,653 hours.

Healthcare institutions that participate in NHSN report their data to CDC using a Web browser based technology for data entry and data management. Data are collected by trained surveillance personnel using written standardized protocols. Participating institutions must have a computer capable of supporting an Internet service provider (ISP) and access to an ISP. There is no cost to respondents other than their time.