Previous terms
continue: Approved consistent with CDC’s commitment to clearly
caveat the interpretation of the national representativeness of the
data and the ability of this collection to document longitudinal
trends due to changes in the number and characteristics of
participating hospitals and nursing homes throughout the epidemic
as well as differences in how each hospital and nursing home
implements this data collection, including variation in which staff
collect the data on any given day.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
09/30/2020
09/30/2020
09/30/2020
3,325,450
0
3,235,450
1,298,246
0
1,206,491
0
0
0
The goal of this information
collection is to 1) capture the daily, aggregate impact of COVID-19
on healthcare facilities, and 2) monitor medical capacity to
respond at local, state, and national levels. This information will
be used to inform the overall real-time COVID-19 response efforts
and possible resource allocation, and enable state and local health
departments to gain immediate access to the COVID-19 data for
hospitals within their jurisdiction. Information collection for
long term care facilities are being added to this request. This
Change Request will add nine data elements to the Patient Impact
and Hospital Capacity form and will add TeleTracking to the NHSN
collection at the request the White House Coronavirus Task Force in
order to strengthen COVID-19 response efforts.
I have determined that
the information must be collected prior to the expiration of time
period established under Part 1320, and that this information is
essential to CDC’s ability, as well as that of state and local
health departments, to effectively address the national public
health crisis caused by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). As rates
of infection and resulting deaths continue to rise across the
nation, healthcare facilities and public health departments are
facing significant strain on patient care and infection prevention
efforts. NHSN plans to introduce a new surveillance module that
will enable hospitals to report daily COVID-19 patient counts to
NHSN, and NHSN in turn will enable state and local health
departments to gain immediate access to the COVID-19 data for
hospitals in their jurisdiction. COVID-19 data submitted to NHSN
also will be used immediately by CDC’s emergency COVID-19 response.
NHSN’s role as a shared platform for healthcare-associated
infection surveillance provides a valuable foundation for COVID-19
surveillance. The COVID-19 modules can additionally be adapted for
future outbreaks of COVID or other infectious diseases. A large
majority of the nation’s hospitals already participate in NHSN, and
infection preventionists (IPs) in those hospitals use NHSN for
surveillance and reporting of healthcare-associated infection and
antimicrobial resistance. CDC cannot reasonably comply with the
normal clearance procedures due to the public harm that could
escalate if routine processing of this request is required. CDC
requests authorization to use information collection instruments in
the existing NHSN web-based application for 180 days to enable
immediate CDC and public health departments with immediate access
to COVID-19 patient impact data.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.