CDC Extends Deadline for NHSN Agreement to Participate and Consent Form to June 15, 2018

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended the deadline for completing the online National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Agreement to Participate and Consent form, referred to as the Consent in this announcement. The new deadline for completing the Consent, June 15, 2018, applies to ALL facilities reporting data to NHSN including those for the following Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) programs:

  • Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program
  • Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program
  • Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program
  • Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Program
  • End Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program
  • Long Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting Program
  • Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Quality Reporting Program

The Consent is accessible to only the NHSN Facility Administrator or Primary Contact user. The new deadline provides additional time for each facility’s NHSN Facility Administrator or Primary Contact to complete the online Consent and avoid any interruptions in access to the NHSN application, including access for purposes of submitting data to meet local, state, or federal reporting requirements. If the Consent is not completed by the new deadline, access to NHSN will be temporarily suspended. Additionally, users will receive an error message when they attempt to log into NHSN, redirecting them to the Facility Administrator or Primary Contact.

CMS quality reporting deadlines for NHSN measure reporting are not affected by this extension.

NHSN provides assistance to address any questions or concerns you may have regarding the Consent process. For more information on how to complete the NHSN Agreement to Participate and Consent process, please visit, https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/about-nhsn/faq-agreement-to-participate.html. You may also direct questions to NHSN@cdc.gov.

NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance Training Webinars

The CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Dialysis Team will provide live webinars in May for new or experienced NHSN users. CDC subject matter experts will be available to answer your questions about NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance.

Introduction to the NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance Protocol: NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance reporting is required for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP) rule. This session will provide a complete introduction to the NHSN Dialysis Event reporting requirements and the surveillance definitions necessary to complete accurate monthly reporting.

Advanced NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance Reporting and Introduction to NHSN Reports: Learn how to apply NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance definitions through case studies that address common reporting questions. The session also will include an introduction to running and interpreting the most popular NHSN reports so you can review your facility’s data, including Dialysis Event bloodstream infection rates.

 

Understanding ICH CAHPS

The In-Center Hemodialysis Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (ICH CAHPS) is a national, standardized, and publicly-reported survey of patients’ perspectives of dialysis care. ICH CAHPS measures the perceptions of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are receiving in-center hemodialysis care.

Questions in the ICH CAHPS survey components capture patients’ perceptions of nephrologists’ communication and caring, staff communication and caring, operations of the dialysis facility, and the facility’s handling of patients’ problems. The survey also includes questions to determine, patients’ knowledge of treatment options, and satisfaction with grievance management.

The survey can be administered in one of three ways: mail only, telephone only, and mixed (mail followed by telephone). Even though ESRD patients spend a number of hours each week at their dialysis facilities, to avoid any bias in responses the survey may not be administered by any facility staff person and may not be administered in the dialysis facility. Surveys are conducted two times per year: in the spring and the fall. All dialysis facilities that treat more than 30 adult patients in a year are required by Medicare to have their patients surveyed.

As part of your patients’ ESRD healthcare team CMS encourages you and other members of the dialysis facility team to focus on the patient experience of care and on ways that they can improve overall quality of life for patients. The ICH CAHPS assessment provides an opportunity for patients’ to express their perspective about the care they receive. ICH CAHPS results are used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) to determine reimbursements to facilities under the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP). Results are also used to score facilities, using a five star rating system in Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC), to help patients select a facility that is right for them.

For additional information on ICH CAHPS please visit:

April is National Donate Life Month

Celebrated in April each year, National Donate Life Month (NDLM) features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.

To learn more about NDLM, and how you can promote donation, visit https://www.donatelife.net/ndlm/.

Here are some important facts about donation for you to keep in mind from the 2016 Donate Life America Donor Designation Report and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN):

  • More than 33,600 transplants brought renewed life to patients, families, and communities .
  • 8,000 people die each year because the organs they need are not donated in time.
  • 80% of patients on the waiting list are waiting for a kidney. The average waiting time is 3 to 5 years.
  • More than 138 million people are registered organ, eye and tissue donors.

Click here for more information about donation and transplantation statistics.

To register your decision to save and heal lives, visit https://registerme.org/.

IPRO ESRD Network Program Customer Support Portal

In an effort to provide more comprehensive support with the hopes of improving overall data quality, the Network began using Freshdesk, a web-based ticket management and knowledgebase application. It has up-to-date articles, links, and visual aids for CROWNWeb, NHSN, the Quality Incentive Program (QIP) and Dialysisdata.org in one place. Information is provided in the easy-to-use and searchable knowledgebase. Freshdesk provides a platform to submit questions via the portal or email. Network staff will respond by email, phone or WebEx. Please send an email to support@IPRO.freshdesk.com or go to https://ipro.freshdesk.com/support/login.

Promotion of Patient Experience Week (April 23-27)

Patient Experience (PX) Week is an annual event established by The Beryl Institute
to honor individuals responsible for providing patient care. PX Week provides a focused time for organizations to celebrate accomplishments, re-energize efforts and honor the people who impact patient experience every day. The Beryl Institute is a global community of practice dedicated to improving the patient experience through collaboration and shared knowledge.

According to the Institute, “Improving health outcomes for patients starts on the front line with doctors, nurses, administrative staff, and executive team members.” Research has shown that better patient experiences can impact the level of patient engagement, and patients who are active members in their healthcare achieve better clinical outcomes.

For more information on Patient Experience Week, click here.