Dive Brief:
- Starting Wednesday, hospitals will no longer be required to report COVID-19 admissions, occupancy and capacity data to federal officials, as some of the last pandemic-era reporting requirements for providers expire.
- The change comes nearly a year after the federal government declared the COVID public health emergency over, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention significantly pared back mandatory reporting requirements for COVID-related metrics.
- Nationwide, COVID hospitalizations and deaths have reached near-record lows this spring.
Dive Insight:
The federal government first mandated health systems report COVID capacity, utilization and systems data in March 2020 to better track the impact of the virus on the nation’s health infrastructure.
At the height of the pandemic, health systems were required to report 62 data elements to the CDC — 52 every day and 10 every week — including information about emergency department capacity, the number of patients on ventilation and the amount personal protective equipment on hand.
In May 2023, the government cut requirements to 44 data points. At the same time, the CDC stopped reporting daily new COVID cases and test positivity rates.
In a November bulletin, the HHS said the pivot was a result of evolving needs for data and a desire to “reduce burden while maximizing efficiency.”
Hospitals have been required to report COVID hospitalization data for nearly a year past the end of the public health emergency.
They have also had the option to report admissions related to influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, which have strained health system capacity in recent years.
While COVID cases have declined, a new variant, KP.2, has begun to circulate, according to the World Health Organization.
The CDC said on its website it encourages “ongoing, voluntary reporting of hospitalization data.”
