On May 11, 2021, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new QSO Memo, “Interim Final Rule – COVID-19 Vaccine Immunization Requirements for Residents and Staff.” The interim final rule establishes requirements related to educating nursing home staff and residents/ representatives about the COVID-19 vaccine, including benefits and potential side effects of the vaccine. Facilities are also required to offer the vaccine to staff and residents. These requirements also have a newly-released Ftag, F887, which is part of the Infection Control regulatory group. Further, to ensure that vaccinations are being offered to staff and residents and that the vaccination data is being tracked, CMS has also updated the requirement for F884 Reporting – National Health Safety Network.
View the Interim Final Rule here (Ref: QSO-21-19-NH) and view our Ftag of the Week for F887 on the CMSCG Blog. The prior requirements for F884 can be viewed in this Ftag of the Week post and will be updated for next week’s post in our CMSCG “Ftag of the Week” Blog Series.
FYI – Important Reporting Dates
- The changes to the required reporting information submitted to the CDC NHSN require facilities to submit the updated data by June 13, 2021.
- CMS will be reviewing this information beginning Monday, June 14, 2021.
