Emergency Revision Justification 19DEC2022

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC)
Atlanta GA 30341-3724

December 17, 2022
Dominic Mancini
Deputy Director
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, DC
Subject: Request for Emergency Review and Clearance
Dear Mr. Mancini:
Pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR Part 1320,
Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public, I request that the proposed information collection project,
National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) be processed in accordance with section 1320.13,
Emergency Processing.
I have determined that this information collection must be revised prior to the expiration of time periods
established under Part 1320, and that this information is essential in the continued and uninterrupted
operation of the National Healthcare Safety Network. NHSN provides facilities, states, regions, and the
nation with data necessary to identify problem areas, measure the progress of prevention efforts, and
ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) nationwide.
This ICR is a revision of the existing OMB #0920-0666 approval from the National Center for Emerging
and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This request
includes an addition of a new data collection instrument and revisions to existing data collection forms.
The new data collection instrument, the Monthly Survey or Patient Days and Nursing Staff, will collect
both nurse staffing hours and patient days for each location mapped in NHSN healthcare facilities.
Patient days data reflects the demand for nurse staffing and represents the amount of time that patients
have to experience adverse events. Measures of nurse staffing and patient days are used in statistical
analyses of patient outcomes to identify opportunities to improve care delivery. Revisions to existing
forms are requested to increase clarity, add new antimicrobial agents, reflect updated medications, and
introduce optional fields for Sex and Birth and Gender Identity. A 60-day notice for this ICR was
submitted August 26, 2022, and one public comment was received and found to be non-substantive.
CDC is requesting emergency review of this ICR revision given the fact that healthcare facilities report in
NHSN for required programs with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state mandates.
Normal clearance processing time will prevent the program from enabling users to continue with patient
safety reporting. Therefore, the ICR needs to be go forward as an emergency to prevent a lapse in
collection activities beginning in January 2023.
Please provide an approval/disapproval determination of this request to collect information under an
emergency clearance by close of business 12/19/2021.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC)
Atlanta GA 30341-3724

Respectfully,

Daniel B. Jernigan, MD MPH
Acting Director, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, and
Deputy Director for Public Health Science and Surveillance,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
________________________________________