Nursing homes’ annual reporting of healthcare personnel flu vaccination rates to satisfy requirements of the Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) is due by May 15. Nursing homes must submit at least one report covering the vaccination status of all healthcare personnel who worked at least one day in the nursing home during flu season (October 1 – March 31 each year).

Data is submitted through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) component, which is a different component of NHSN than the component through which respiratory illness data is reported. Only the person designated in NHSN as the Facility Administrator can activate the HPS component. Once the component has been activated, the Facility Administrator can then add new users to the component to allow other staff to submit this data.

Instructions for adding the HPS component can be found here.

LeadingAge recommends submitting this data as soon as possible to allow for trouble-shooting any data submission issues. There are generally no exceptions for submissions after the May 15 deadline and failure to submit will impact the nursing home’s Annual Payment Update (APU).