Resource Library

NHSN Guides

• Determining Patient Days for Summary Data Collection: Observation vs. Inpatients [PDF - 45 KB]
• Purposes, Eligibility, Requirements and Confidentiality [PDF - 115 KB]
  NHSN's purpose and participation criteria.
• NHSN Facility Administrator Enrollment Guide [PDF - 496 KB] October 2011.
  
• NHSN Group Administrator Guide [PDF - 1.32MB]
  A step-by-step start-up guide for forming a group in NHSN.
  June 2009.
• NHSN Rules of Behavior for Facility/Group Administrators [PDF - 130 KB]
  August 2005.
• User Start-up Guide [PDF - 433 KB] October 2011
  A step-by-step start-up guide for NHSN Users who are not Facility Administrators or Group Administrators.
  
• Rules of Behavior for Users [PDF - 103 KB]
• NHSN Analysis Basics: Quick Tips Guide [PDF - 872 KB]
  September 2010.
• Location Mapping Quick Reference Guide [PDF - 244 KB] August 2012

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Guides for the Group Function

• Guide to Creating a Group in NHSN [PDF - 792 KB]
• Guide to Joining a Group in NHSN [PDF - 683 KB]
• Guide to Setting Up the Confer Rights Template – Patient Safety Component [PDF - 845 KB]

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NHSN Codes and Variables

• ICD9-CM Procedure Code Mapping to NHSN Operative Procedure Categories [XLS - 173 KB] February 2012
  Mapping of ICD-9-CM Procedure Codes to NHSN Operative Procedure categories.
• CDC Location Labels and Location Descriptions [PDF - 499 KB] March 2012
• MDRO/CDI Module LabID Event Specimen Source Codes [PDF - 461KB] Jan. 2010
• NHSN Organisms Lists (NHSN Complete Organisms List, NHSN Frequently Used Organisms List, and NHSN Common Commensals List) [XLS - 107 KB] April 2012

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Long-term Care Facility Component

• Tracking Infections in Long-term Care Facilities
  Guidelines and procedures for Long-term Care Facilities Component.

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Patient Safety Component Resources

• Guide to the Patient Safety Component Alerts [PDF - 584 KB] October 2011
• Download the NHSN Manual: Patient Safety Protocol by section:
  • Table of Contents
• Importing Patient Safety Procedure Data
  NHSN allows the importation of operative procedures. The following documents provide information on the procedure import process, including the required file specifications.
  • How to Import Patient Safety Procedure Data [PDF - 0.8 MB] May 2011
  • Patient Safety Procedure Data Import File Specifications [PDF - 182 KB] February 2012
  • Sample Procedure Import File [CSV - 1 KB] February 2012
• Overview of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Surveillance through the NHSN [PDF - 97 KB]
  Summary of the main MRSA-related metrics that can be produced by facility data reported to the NHSN through its Multidrug-Resistant Organism and Clostridium difficile Infection (MDRO/CDI) Module and its Device-Associated Module that may be useful in this context.
• A Review of MDRO/CDI Module Improvements since Implementation in March 2009 [PDF - 37 KB]
• Guide to the Patient Safety Data Quality Output Options [PDF - 1.22 MB] June 2011
• Guide to Analyzing C. difficile Custom Events [PDF - 199 KB]
• Patient Safety Variable List [PDF - 227 KB] April 2012
  Reference list of NHSN variable names and labels used in analysis for the Patient Safety Component.
• List of Aggregate Date Sources for Rate Comparisons and SIRs. [PDF - 353 KB] - May 2012

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CMS Reporting

CLABSI

• How to Report No CLABSI Events for the CMS Inpatient Quality Reporting Program [PDF - 274 KB] June 2012
• Helpful Tips for CLABSI Reporting for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (CMS Reporting Program) [PDF - 294 KB] May 2012
• Using the “SIR - CLAB Data for CMS IPPS” Output Option [PDF - 418 KB] May 2012.

CAUTI

• How to Report No CAUTI Events for the CMS Inpatient Quality Reporting Program [PDF - 274 KB] June 2012
• Helpful Tips for CAUTI Reporting for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (CMS Reporting Program) [PDF - 294 KB] May 2012
• Using the "SIR-CAUTI Data for CMS IPPS" Output Option [PDF - 380 KB] May 2012

SSI

• How to Report No Procedure or SSI Events for the CMS Inpatient Quality Reporting Program [PDF - 182 KB] June 2012
• Helpful Tips for SSI Reporting for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (CMS Reporting Program) [PDF - 294 KB] May 2012
• Using the "SIR- Complex 30-Day SSI Data for CMS IPPS" Output Option [PDF - 316 KB] May 2012

Operational Guidance for Acute Care Hospitals

• Operational Guidance for Acute Care Hospitals to Report Healthcare Personnel (HCP) Influenza Vaccination Data to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program Requirements for the 2012-2013 Influenza Season [PDF - 154 KB] August 2012
• Operational Guidance for Acute Care Hospitals to Report Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) Data to CDC’s NHSN for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Requirements [PDF - 154 KB] August 2012
• Operational Guidance for Acute Care Hospitals to Report Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Data to CDC’s NHSN for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Requirements [PDF - 153 KB] August 2012
• Operational Guidance for Reporting Surgical Site Infection Data to CDC’s NHSN for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program Requirements [PDF - 177 KB] August 2012

Operational Guidance for Long Term Acute Care Hospitals

• Operational Guidance for Long Term Care Hospitals* to Report Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) Data to CDC’s NHSN for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Quality Reporting Requirements [PDF - 133 KB] Sept 2012
• Operational Guidance for Long Term Care Hospitals* to Report Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Data to CDC’s NHSN for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Quality Reporting Requirements [PDF - 133 KB] Sept 2012

Operational Guidance for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities

• Operational Guidance for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities to Report Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Data to CDC’s NHSN for the Purpose of Fulfilling CMS’s Quality Reporting Requirements [PDF - 108 KB] August 2012

Guidance for Updating Inpatient Rehabilitation locations in NHSN

• Updated IRF Locations in NHSN [PDF - 2.79 MB] May 2012

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Healthcare Personnel Safety Component Resources

• Healthcare Personnel Safety Component Protocol
  Guidelines and procedures monitored in the Healthcare Personnel Safety Component includes instructions for completing data collection forms.
• Healthcare Personnel Safety Variable List [PDF - 77 KB] April 2012
  Reference list of NHSN variable names and labels used in analysis for the Healthcare Personnel Safety Component.

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Biovigilance Component Resources

• Download the NHSN Manual: Biovigilance Component Protocol:
  • Table of Contents
• Biovigilance Variable Reference List [PDF - 102 KB] April 2012
  Reference list of NHSN variable names and labels used in analysis for the Biovigilance Component.

Quick Reference Guides

• Activating the Biovigilance Component [PDF - 311 KB]
  Audience: To guide facilities that are already enrolled in NHSN in activating the Biovigilance Component and adding their first users.
• Hemovigilance Module: Customizing Forms [PDF - 248 KB] August 2012
  Audience: To guide users that wish to add custom fields (i.e. variables) to data collection forms in the Hemovigilance Module.

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HIPAA

• HIPAA Privacy Rule and Public Health
  The new regulations provide protection for the privacy of certain individually identifiable health data, referred to as protected health information (PHI).
  MMWR April 11, 2003 / 52;1-12
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule [PDF - 87 KB]
  Summary: The Privacy Rule expressly permits PHI to be shared for public health purposes without individual authorization.

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FAQs

• About NHSN
• About the New NHSN Agreement
• About CMS Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program
• About Dialysis Event Reporting
• About NHSN and CMS ESRD QIP Rule
• About NHSN Enrollment
• About NHSN reporting with CDA – General and dialysis event reporting [PDF - 181 KB] December 2011.
• About NHSN Security
• About Digital Certificates
• About NHSN Protocols
• About HIPAA Privacy Rule
  HIPAA Privacy Rule: Provisions relevant to public health practice.
• About NHSN HPS Component-Influenza Modules

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