The department of health (department) is considering amending rules on health care associated infection (HAI) reporting requirements. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated its reporting requirements and established separate requirements by type of hospital rather than the generic reporting of the same requirements by all hospitals as has previously been the case in Washington state. Updated hospital reporting requirements may be needed to align with new CMS changes.

Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 43.70.056 gives specific authority to the department for updating hospital reporting requirements for health care associated infections. "The department shall, by rule, delete, add, or modify categories of reporting when the department determines that doing so is necessary to align state reporting with the reporting categories of the centers for medicare and medicaid services."

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: CMS has updated its requirements and regulations and the department has determined that updates to chapter 246-440 WAC may be needed to reflect CMS updates. Aligning data reporting requirements with CMS streamlines reporting for hospitals who must also report the same data to CMS.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The data collected by this rule populates the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation's most widely used HAI tracking system. NHSN data are analyzed by CDC, the states, and others to direct actions for HAI prevention. Local, state, and national HAI trends are used to identify emerging problems and areas of concern that need intervention, and to measure progress in HAI reduction against national, state, and local prevention goals. It is critical that data collected and reported by Washington's hospitals aligns with CMS reporting requirements to support these programs for tracking, trend analysis, and appropriate interventions.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Sara Podczervinski, 1610 N.E. 150th [Street], Shoreline, WA 98155, phone 206-418-5519, TTY 360-833-6388 or 711, email hai@doh.wa.gov.

Additional comments: Interested parties can participate in the drafting of the proposed rule. The department will use existing listserv, the HAI web site, and other known contact information to inform stakeholders of opportunities to provide input on propose[d] rule language. To be included on an interested parties list, contact Sara Podczervinski, Department of Health, 1610 N.E. 150th [Street], Shoreline, WA 98155, 206-418-5519, or hai@doh.wa.gov.