Enrollment Requirements

Eligibility Criteria

Facilities participating in the NHSN must meet the following criteria:

• Be a bona fide healthcare facility in the United States of America, for example, be listed in or associated with a facility that is listed in one of the following national databases:
  • American Hospital Association (AHA)
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
  • Veteran’s Affairs (VA).
• Have email addresses for NHSN users and high-speed Internet access on the computers they will use to access NHSN and the ability to download a digital certificate onto those computers for each authorized user.
• Be willing to follow the selected NHSN component protocols exactly and report complete and accurate data in a timely manner during months when reporting data for use by CDC.
• Be willing to share such data with CDC for the purposes stated above.
• Be able to provide written consent for participation in the NHSN by a member of the facility’s chief executive leadership (e.g., Chief Executive Officer).

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Reporting Requirements for Participation

Once enrolled in the NHSN, each facility must:

• Use the NHSN Internet-based data entry interface and/or data import tools for reporting data to CDC.
• Successfully complete an annual survey for each component selected.
• Successfully complete one or more modules of the component selected. Successful completion requires the following:
  • For the selected component, submit a reporting plan each month to inform CDC which, if any, of the modules will be used for that month. Data for at least one module must be submitted for a minimum of six months of the calendar year to maintain active status.
  • Adhere to the selected module’s protocol(s) exactly as described in the NHSN Manual during the months when one or more NHSN modules are used. This includes using surveillance methodology appropriate for the module and as described in the protocol.
  • Report adverse events/exposures and appropriate summary or denominator data as required for the module(s) indicated on the reporting plan to CDC within 30 days of the end of the month.
  • For those months when the Healthcare Worker Exposure module is followed and no exposures are reported, confirm that none occurred.
  • Pass quality control acceptance checks that assess the data for completeness and accuracy.
• NHSN facilities must agree to report to state health authorities those outbreaks that are identified in their facility by the surveillance system and about which they are contacted by CDC.
• Failure to comply with these requirements will result in withdrawal from the NHSN. Such facilities will be offered the opportunity to download their data before being withdrawn. Six months after withdrawal, a facility may apply for reenrollment into the NHSN.

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Required Training

Before enrolling in or using the system NHSN requires that each of its users, including the facility administrator, is thoroughly trained. The training requirements differ depending on the role of the NHSN user.

See the following roles to review the training requirements:

System Requirements

The following recommended system requirements were developed to ensure the best use of the key features of the NHSN which demand high processor performance, such as Java graphical interface, Internet audio / video streaming, professional 3D graphics, multimedia, data analysis, graphical data visualization.

It is the responsibility of the healthcare facility to choose the specific microcomputer brand and model to purchase.

Minimum System Requirements

Additional System Recommendations