New reporting requirements related to acute respiratory illnesses for nursing homes will take effect on Jan. 1, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Nursing homes must report data related to, but not limited to, the flu, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). 

The rule essentially replaces existing reporting requirements. Questions pertaining to RSV and the flu will be required in January, whereas they are currently optional, Kim Roche, nurse with the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality for CMS, said during an open door session on Thursday.

In a nutshell, there are two components of the reporting updates: ongoing reporting regarding the flu, Covid and RSV, and additional data reporting during a declared PHE for an acute infectious illness, she noted.

“With this rule, we have streamlined data reporting, collecting minimal necessary data needed to maintain a level of situational awareness that we believe will protect resident health and safety across the country while reducing burden on facilities,” she said.

Last month, CMS posted the new reporting measure on the Federal Register, she said.

The initial reporting rule finalizes long-term care facility requirements for ongoing, streamlined respiratory illness reporting in a standardized format and frequency, as specified by the CMS secretary.

“The data to be reported includes facility census, resident vaccine status, confirmed resident cases of respiratory infections, flu, Covid and RSV, and hospitalized residents with confirmed cases of flu, Covid or RSV,” said Roche.

Additional data reporting will also be needed if a public health emergency (PHE) is declared for an acute infectious illness at the national, state or local level, she said.

Reporting as part of an acute infectious illness PHE includes relevant confirmed infections for staff, supply inventory shortages, staffing shortages and relevant medical countermeasured and therapeutic inventories, Roche said.

It’s unclear if associated F-tags, namely F-884, will continue with the new reporting requirements.

The regulation is separate from the Quality Reporting Program, Roche said, although the two requirements complement each other.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CMS are working together to provide training on the new reporting requirements on Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. EST, and a replay of the training on Jan. 7, also 1 p.m. EST.

CMS officials also mentioned that the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) Minimum Data Set (MDS) user interface won’t be updated beginning October 2025 – this is the manual entry aspect of iQIES rather than the XML format used by most providers and vendors. Assessments after Oct. 1 2025 will need to be submitted using the XML format, they said.

If a provider is affected by this change, they’ll need to use a vendor, third party company or software to complete MDS records.