Oz Wants to End Weekly COVID Reports, Nursing Group Approves

The New York Times is reporting that CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz wrote to Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., that that agency should work to undo the mandate requiring nursing homes to report each week how many of its residents have COVID and other respiratory diseases.

“A draft summary of the proposed rule obtained by The New York Times outlines how the administration agrees with the industry’s objections to weekly reporting of viral caseloads, calling it burdensome,” the newspaper article said. “In its waning days, the Biden administration made Covid reporting rules permanent, adding influenza and respiratory syncytial virus [R.S.V.] to the list of threats that facilities also must track and record.”

The policy took effect in January 2025.

In response, a specialist with the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) told Park Place, “this is a potential change we have advocated for as part of efforts to reduce unnecessary administrative burden on nursing homes.”

Lauren Stenson, curriculum development specialist for AAPACN, said if finalized, eliminating the weekly federal reporting requirement could give clinical and operational leaders back valuable time while still maintaining their responsibility to monitor respiratory illness, identify outbreaks, and respond appropriately.

“Reducing reporting burden should not mean reducing vigilance; it should mean allowing facilities to focus more resources on resident care and meaningful infection prevention activities,” she said.

AHCA Reacts

According to the newspaper report, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and LeadingAge reiterated their opposition to weekly respiratory infection reporting, saying that other government programs track COVID infections and that respiratory illnesses are reported to many local health departments.

In a statement to Park Place, AHCA said “to reiterate what we told The Times: we cannot weigh in on any potential HHS/CMS proposals or policy changes without seeing more detail. We have not seen the memo from Dr. Oz to which the article refers. However, we can discuss the issues of weekly COVID-19 reporting to NHSN and offering vaccines to staff and residents broadly.”

On that point, Holly Harmon, AHCA’s senior vice president of quality, regulatory, and clinical affairs said, “Given that the public health emergency ended more than three years ago, and the threat of COVID-19 has diminished exponentially, it would be reasonable and prudent of CMS to eliminate this requirement. This outdated reporting requirement is only adding hours of unnecessary administrative tasks to caregivers each week.”  

Harmon added that “it’s also duplicative. Relevant COVID-19 reporting has been incorporated into other skilled nursing systems and programs. Respiratory illnesses are also reported to many local public health departments.”

Further, she said, “it’s time to streamline public health reporting and put patients over paperwork, so our skilled nursing professionals can focus more on delivering quality care. 

“Nursing homes continue to educate and encourage residents and staff to stay up to date on their respiratory virus vaccines. Our #GetVaccinated campaign offers providers resources on this issue throughout the year, but especially during the cold and flu season. We remain committed to continuing these vaccination efforts,” Harmon said. 

No More Education

The Times said in the draft memo from Oz to Kennedy that CMS would reserve the power to reinstate weekly reporting if another public health emergency occurred. The CMS plan would end a requirement that nursing home staff be educated about COVID vaccines and offered the vaccines.

The administration plan would continue to mandate that facilities offer the COVID vaccine to residents, the newspaper said.

Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.