Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Report Training Webinar New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) immunize@health.state.ny.us flumaskreg@health.state.ny.us

Outline Regulation for Prevention of Influenza Transmission by Healthcare and Residential Facility and Agency Personnel Reporting Requirements Getting Started Completing the Survey Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Healthcare and residential facilities and agencies must: Regulation for Prevention of Influenza Transmission by Healthcare and Residential Facility and Agency Personnel Became effective on July 31, 2013 Healthcare and residential facilities and agencies must: Determine and document which persons qualify as Healthcare personnel (HCP) under the regulation Document the influenza vaccination status of all HCP for the current influenza season Ensure all HCP not vaccinated against influenza for the current influenza season wear a surgical or procedure mask while in areas where patients or residents may be present when the Commissioner of Health declares influenza to be prevalent Identify those areas where patients or residents may be present and, accordingly, unvaccinated HCP must wear a mask

Reporting Requirements Covered facilities and agencies must report the number and percentage of HCP that have been vaccinated against influenza for the current season The Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Report will be the mechanism for reporting personnel influenza vaccination status Must be completed on the Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) on the Health Commerce System (HCS) at https://commerce.health.state.ny.us/ The first report will open November 1, 2013 and be due by November 15, 2013 There will be a final report at the end of the flu season

Getting Started: Who Needs to Report? Hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic and treatment centers (all “Article 28 facilities”) Certified home health agencies, long term home health care programs, AIDS home care programs, licensed home care service agencies, limited license home care service agencies (all “Article 36 agencies”) Hospices (as defined in Article 40 of the PHL)

Getting Started: Which HCP Must Be Reported? (1) All persons employed by or affiliated with a healthcare or residential facility or agency, paid or unpaid, who engage in activities such that if they were infected with influenza, they could potentially expose patients or residents to the disease Employees Licensed independent practitioners Students, trainees, volunteers Contract personnel

Getting Started: Which HCP Must Be Reported? (2) Only HCP that are subject to the regulation must be reported Each facility or agency determines which personnel are subject to this regulation and, therefore, must be reported An FAQ document covering several scenarios of personnel that are and are not subject to the regulation is available at www.health.ny.gov/flumaskreg

Getting Started: Locating the Online Report The report is located in the Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) on the Health Commerce System (HCS) at https://commerce.health.state.ny.us/ In order to complete the report, you must have An HCS account An HCS role that is able to access the report on HERDS

Getting Started: Getting HCS Access If you do not yet have an HCS account, then you will need to register for an account at https://apps.health.ny.gov/pub/usertop.html Follow the steps in the “Quick Reference Guide”

Getting Started: HERDS Access You will need to be assigned a specific role within HCS in order to access the report on HERDS HERDS Data Reporter/Data Reporter/Nursing Home Data Reporter Administrator* Director, Nursing* HPN Coordinator* Infection Control Practitioner* Medical Director* Contact your HCS Coordinator for role assignment If you are reporting for more than one facility or agency, you will need to be assigned a reporting role for each facility or agency *Alternative roles able to access the report if one of the above “Data Reporter” roles is not available

https://commerce.health.state.ny.us/ Completing the Survey https://commerce.health.state.ny.us/

FAQ

How can I prepare to complete the report? Verify the numbers of employees, licensed independent practitioners, students, trainees, and volunteers, and contract staff that are covered under the regulation Collect documentation of vaccination status for all covered HCP If no documentation is available, they would be reported as “unknown” Write down your numbers or collect in an electronic document so they are easily accessible when you complete the report Check and double-check to make sure your numbers add up!

Why can’t I find my facility/agency listed in the “Organization” menu? There are three possibilities: You have not been assigned a reporting role for this facility/agency (most likely) OR You are attempting to submit a report for a facility/agency that is not required to report OR You are attempting to submit a report for a facility/agency that shares a single Facility ID with another facility/agency Some long term care facilities have both an ADHCP and a nursing home under a single Facility ID If that is the case, then your facility will need to submit a single combined report for all sites that fall under the single Facility ID Check with your HCS Coordinator or look your ADHCP up in the HCS Communications Directory

Our organization has both a hospital and a nursing home Our organization has both a hospital and a nursing home. Can I submit a single combined report for the organization as a whole? No The separate facilities must each submit individual reports under their own Facility IDs in the “Organization” menu If the facilities or agencies are listed separately in the “Organization” menu, then they cannot combine their data into a single report EXCEPTION: if more than 1 entity falls under a single Facility ID, then the data should be submitted as a single combined report

Why is my nursing home listed twice in the “Organization” menu, once with (pfi) and once with (adhcp)? NHs and ADHCPs are often listed under the same name but with different designations in parentheses [Nursing Home (pfi)] = Nursing Home [Nursing Home (adhcp)] = Adult Day Health Care Program Check the designation – be sure to select the correct facility for the report that you are completing You cannot combine data from more than one facility into a single report!

What if I am interrupted while completing the report What if I am interrupted while completing the report? Will my data be lost? If you hit “Save All” before exiting the report, then the data that you entered prior to your interruption will not be lost The next time you open the report, you will be able to resume from where you left off Save early and save often!

What is the reporting period? The period of time during which the HCP included in this report were employed by or affiliated with the reporting facility or agency Include all personnel who meet the definition of HCP that were employed by or affiliated with your facility or agency for any amount of time during the reporting period For the November 2013 report, the reporting period is September 1, 2013 – October 31, 2013 Later reports will have different reporting periods from the November 2013 report – check within each report for the specific reporting period

If an HCP was vaccinated in August, should he/she be counted as vaccinated? Yes The reporting period refers to the time of employment or affiliation, not to the time of vaccination Any influenza vaccination received after July 1, 2013 would count as vaccinated Influenza vaccine received before July 1, 2013 is last season’s influenza vaccine and does not count as vaccinated for the current season

Many of our HCP work at other facilities or agencies Many of our HCP work at other facilities or agencies. Must they be reported by each facility or agency at which they work? Yes The purpose of the report is to describe the HCP influenza vaccination coverage per facility or agency, not by individual HCP An HCP that is employed by or affiliated with more than one agency impacts the HCP influenza vaccination coverage for each facility or agency with which he/she is employed or affiliated, and therefore must be counted by each facility or agency By definition, such HCP would be reported multiple times; this is acceptable and required

Agency A provides HCP to Agency B under a contract for patient care services. Both agencies are covered under the regulation. How should these HCP be reported? Such HCP would be reported by Agency A as “employees” and by Agency B as “contract personnel” HCP employed by or affiliated with > 1 facility or agency must be reported by each facility or agency

I was told that my report was not submitted. I’m sure I completed it I was told that my report was not submitted. I’m sure I completed it. What’s wrong? The report does not get submitted to NYSDOH until you click “Submit Data to DOH”. Make sure to click “Submit Data to DOH” once your data is entered and you are satisfied that it is accurate!

Contact Information Questions regarding the content of this report may be directed to the NYSDOH Bureau of Immunization at (518) 473-4437 or via email to Immunize@health.state.ny.us If you have forgotten your HCS username or password, call Commerce Accounts Management Unit at 1-866-529-1890 Technical questions regarding the use of HERDS may be directed to the Office of Health Emergency Preparedness at (518) 408- 5163 Questions regarding the flu mask regulation should be directed to flumaskreg@health.state.ny.us Further details on the flu mask regulation, including a detailed FAQ document, are available at www.health.state.ny.us/flumaskreg