About NHSN

The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) is a voluntary, secure, internet-based surveillance system that integrates patient and healthcare personnel safety surveillance systems managed by the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) at CDC. During 2008, enrollment in NHSN was opened to all types of healthcare facilities in the United States, including acute care hospitals, long term acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient dialysis centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and long term care facilities.

NHSN makes use of recent advances in information technology. While maintaining data security, integrity, and confidentiality, NHSN has the capacity for healthcare facilities to share data in a timely manner between healthcare facilities (e.g., a multihospital system) or with other entities (e.g., public health agencies or quality improvement organizations).

NHSN's information technology architecture enables data exchanges in accordance with the standards adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the National Health Information Technology Initiative. CDC collaborates with federal and national partners to create standards that will prevent duplication of efforts at the facility level. To reduce the burden of reporting, harmonization of healthcare performance measures across national organizations is in progress, and for some measures has been achieved (i.e., pneumonia and bloodstream infections). In addition, we are working with private sector vendors so that facilities collecting data using commercially-available systems will be able to voluntarily upload those data electronically into NHSN.

There is no fee for participation in the NHSN.

Review of NHSN

• External Peer Review of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) Surveillance Branch Report May 2008 PDF (99 KB / 12 pages)
  In 2008, CDC convened an External Peer Review of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) Surveillance Branch, which handles the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The primary focus of this external peer review was NHSN. This report provides the proceedings and final recommendations from the panel.

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The purposes of NHSN are to:

• Collect data from a sample of healthcare facilities in the United States to permit valid estimation of the magnitude of adverse events among patients and healthcare personnel.
• Collect data from a sample of healthcare facilities in the United States to permit valid estimation of the adherence to practices known to be associated with prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI).
• Collect data from a sample of healthcare facilities in the United States to permit valid estimation of the magnitude of adverse reactions and incidents associated with transfusion of blood and blood products.
• Analyze and report collected data to permit recognition of trends.
• Provide facilities with risk-adjusted data that can be used for interfacility comparisons and local quality improvement activities.
• Assist facilities in developing surveillance and analysis methods that permit timely recognition of patient and healthcare personnel safety problems and prompt intervention with appropriate measures.
• Conduct collaborative research studies with NHSN member facilities (e.g., describe the epidemiology of emerging HAI and pathogens, assess the importance of potential risk factors, further characterize HAI pathogens and their mechanisms of resistance, and evaluate alternative surveillance and prevention strategies).

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Confidentiality

Each NHSN facility is afforded the following Assurance of Confidentiality:

“The information obtained in this surveillance system that would permit identification of any individual or institution is collected with a guarantee that it will be held in strict confidence, will be used only for the purposes stated, and will not be disclosed or released without the consent of the individual, or the institution in accordance with Section 304, 306, and 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC 242b, 242k, and 242m(d)).”

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How data are used

Data collected in NHSN are used for improving patient safety at the local and national levels. In aggregate, CDC analyzes and publishes surveillance data to estimate and characterize the national burden of healthcare-associated infections. At the local level, the data analysis features of NHSN that are available to participating facilities range from rate tables and graphs to statistical analysis that compares the healthcare facility’s rates with the national aggregate metrics.

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